Best PlacesMadison County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Madison County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Madison County ranks 548th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Madison County
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.
Madison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madison County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
Where Madison County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,031 a month, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Madison County
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $85,864; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Madison County's effective rate of 0.49%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Madison County
Madison County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Madison County.
Who works in Madison County, and how
Work in Madison County centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Madison County
Madison County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Madison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Madison County growing, and who is moving in?
Madison County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Madison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Madison County, month by month
Madison County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Madison County
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Madison County
Schools across Madison County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Orange ElementaryA− · 56% proficient
- Waverly Yowell ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Nathanael Greene ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prospect Heights MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
- William Monroe MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
- William H. Wetsel MiddleC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Orange County HighA · 67% proficient
- William Monroe HighA− · 62% proficient
- Madison County HighB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madison County 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 Madison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Madison County
Is Madison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison County ranks 548th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, tree cover, and big-city access, and lowest on walkability and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,287. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $85,864 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Madison County safe?
Yes, Madison County is safer than 97% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
Compare Madison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison County 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.
Madison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison County 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.