Best PlacesLynchburg, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Lynchburg metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by David.cook1, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Lynchburg ranks 200th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on cell coverage and walkability. It does better on tree cover, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Lynchburg metro
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Lynchburg
The towns and districts of the Lynchburg metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Forest & Bedford
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and more residents vote.
Evington & Rustburg
Crime runs lower, though tree cover is thinner.
Moneta, Goodview & Vinton
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Downtown Lynchburg
Commutes are shorter and health outcomes score higher.
Madison Heights & Amherst
Fewer adults hold degrees.
Appomattox & Concord
Prices have run up more and incomes run lower.
Brookneal
Homes cost less, though advertised internet is slower.
Lynchburg shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lynchburg's strengths and weaknesses
Lynchburg lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Tree cover, affordable childcare, and cheap car insurance carry most of that.
The one real hole is cell coverage, near the bottom of the country. Walkability and state finances also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Lynchburg ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$616 a month, better than 92% of metro areas
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of metro areas
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of metro areas
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of metro areas
Where Lynchburg ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Lynchburg
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lynchburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,680, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Lynchburg's effective rate of 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lynchburg
Lynchburg's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lynchburg.
Who works in Lynchburg, and how
Work in Lynchburg centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Lynchburg
Lynchburg has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lynchburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lynchburg growing, and who is moving in?
Lynchburg has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lynchburg go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lynchburg, month by month
Lynchburg sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Lynchburg
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lynchburg
Schools across Lynchburg average a B+, better than 88% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Boonsboro ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Paul Munro ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Leesville Road ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forest MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- Brookville MiddleA− · 56% proficient
- Rustburg MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Brookville HighA · 73% proficient
- Rustburg HighA · 70% proficient
- Jefferson Forest HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lynchburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lynchburg measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Lynchburg against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Lynchburg suits
Common questions about living in Lynchburg
Is Lynchburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lynchburg ranks 200th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lynchburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,879. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,680 median income, cost of living beats 29% of metro areas.
Is Lynchburg safe?
Lynchburg is safer than 50% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $354 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lynchburg?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 26. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lynchburg?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Forest & Bedford, Evington & Rustburg, and Moneta, Goodview & Vinton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lynchburg good for families?
Schools beat 88% of metro areas, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $616 a month.
Is Lynchburg good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 29% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 42% of metro areas. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lynchburg with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lynchburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lynchburg represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Lynchburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lynchburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lynchburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lynchburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lynchburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lynchburg detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.