Best PlacesMc Dowell, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mc Dowell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mc Dowell ranks 23,818th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mc Dowell
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.
Mc Dowell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mc Dowell ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
Where Mc Dowell ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute35.7 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mc Dowell
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mc Dowell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,479; 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 Mc Dowell's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Mc Dowell
Mc Dowell runs older than the country, 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 Mc Dowell.
Who works in Mc Dowell, and how
Work in Mc Dowell centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mc Dowell
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mc Dowell.
What the weather is like in Mc Dowell, month by month
Mc Dowell sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 70° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Mc Dowell
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mc Dowell
Schools across Mc Dowell average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Highland ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Green Bank Elementary-middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Beverley Manor MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Highland HighA− · 65% proficient
- Bath County HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mc Dowell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mc Dowell 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 Mc Dowell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mc Dowell
Is Mc Dowell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mc Dowell ranks 23,818th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, a strong job market, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mc Dowell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $290,000. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $69,479 median income, cost of living beats 59% of towns.
Is Mc Dowell safe?
Mc Dowell is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $539 per resident a year.
Compare Mc Dowell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mc Dowell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mc Dowell 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.
Mc Dowell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mc Dowell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mc Dowell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mc Dowell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mc Dowell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mc Dowell 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.
- 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.