Best PlacesNelson County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nelson County, 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.
Nelson County ranks 1,503rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Nelson 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.
Nelson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nelson County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of counties
Where Nelson County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 1% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nelson County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nelson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,653; 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 Nelson County'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 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 Nelson County
Nelson County 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 Nelson County.
Who works in Nelson County, and how
Work in Nelson County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Nelson County
Nelson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Nelson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nelson County growing, and who is moving in?
Nelson County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Virginia Beach, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nelson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nelson County, month by month
Nelson County sees roughly 101 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 Nelson County
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nelson County
Schools across Nelson County average a B+, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fairfield ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Rockfish River ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Tye River ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nelson MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Maury River MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockbridge County HighA · 68% proficient
- Nelson County HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nelson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nelson 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 Nelson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nelson County
Is Nelson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nelson County ranks 1,503rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, health care access, and cheap car insurance, 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 Nelson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $315,899. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $78,653 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Nelson County safe?
Nelson County is safer than 23% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $441 per resident a year.
Compare Nelson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nelson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nelson 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.
Nelson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nelson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nelson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nelson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nelson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nelson 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.