Best PlacesNellysford, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nellysford, 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.
Nellysford ranks 2,404th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nellysford
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.
Nellysford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nellysford ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$125,230 median, better than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
Where Nellysford ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nellysford
A household needs to earn about $125,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nellysford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,230, 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 Nellysford's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Nellysford
Nellysford 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 Nellysford.
Who works in Nellysford, and how
Work in Nellysford centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Nellysford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nellysford.
What the weather is like in Nellysford, month by month
Nellysford sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 48° |
| July | 85° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Nellysford
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nellysford
Schools across Nellysford average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rockfish River ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nelson MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Nelson County HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nellysford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nellysford 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 Nellysford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nellysford
Is Nellysford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nellysford ranks 2,404th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, an educated workforce, and what local pay buys, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nellysford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,280. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $125,230 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Nellysford safe?
Nellysford is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $399 per resident a year.
Compare Nellysford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nellysford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nellysford 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.
Nellysford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nellysford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nellysford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nellysford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nellysford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nellysford 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.