Best PlacesMcDonalds Mill, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McDonalds Mill, 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.
McDonalds Mill ranks 2,442nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in McDonalds Mill
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.
McDonalds Mill's strengths and weaknesses
Where McDonalds Mill ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
Where McDonalds Mill ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McDonalds Mill
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McDonalds Mill home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,104, 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 McDonalds Mill's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 McDonalds Mill
McDonalds Mill runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McDonalds Mill.
Who works in McDonalds Mill, and how
Work in McDonalds Mill centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in McDonalds Mill
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McDonalds Mill.
What the weather is like in McDonalds Mill, month by month
McDonalds Mill sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of McDonalds Mill
The nearest airport, Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional (Woodrum Field), is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around McDonalds Mill
Schools across McDonalds Mill average an A, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Harding Avenue ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- Margaret Beeks ElementaryA · 72% proficient
- Mason's Cove ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Glenvar MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Blacksburg MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Shawsville MiddleB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Glenvar HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Blacksburg HighA+ · 84% proficient
- Eastern Montgomery HighA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McDonalds Mill school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McDonalds Mill 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 McDonalds Mill against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McDonalds Mill
Is McDonalds Mill a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McDonalds Mill ranks 2,442nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McDonalds Mill expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $403,180. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $114,104 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is McDonalds Mill safe?
Yes, McDonalds Mill is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
Compare McDonalds Mill with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McDonalds Mill. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McDonalds Mill 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.
McDonalds Mill detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McDonalds Mill: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McDonalds Mill: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McDonalds Mill: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McDonalds Mill: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McDonalds Mill 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.