Best PlacesNelsonia, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nelsonia, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Nelsonia ranks 19,251st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nelsonia
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.
Nelsonia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nelsonia ranks high
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
Where Nelsonia ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nelsonia
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nelsonia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,244, 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 Nelsonia's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nelsonia
Nelsonia 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 Nelsonia.
Who works in Nelsonia, and how
Work in Nelsonia centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Nelsonia
The coast is about 22 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Nelsonia, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nelsonia, month by month
Nelsonia sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 62° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Nelsonia
The nearest airport, Salisbury-Ocean City Wicomico Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nelsonia
Schools across Nelsonia average a B−, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Accawmacke ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Kegotank ElementaryC+ · 36% proficient
- Metompkin ElementaryC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nandua MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Arcadia MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Nandua HighA · 73% proficient
- Arcadia HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nelsonia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nelsonia 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 Nelsonia against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nelsonia
Is Nelsonia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nelsonia ranks 19,251st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, transit, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on disaster risk and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nelsonia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,100. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $78,244 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Nelsonia safe?
Yes, Nelsonia is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $312 per resident a year.
Compare Nelsonia with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nelsonia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nelsonia 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.
Nelsonia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nelsonia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nelsonia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nelsonia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nelsonia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nelsonia 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.