Best PlacesNewington Forest, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Newington Forest, 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.
Newington Forest ranks 738th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Newington Forest
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.
Newington Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where Newington Forest ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$163,542 median, better than 98% of towns
Where Newington Forest ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Newington Forest
A household needs to earn about $269,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Newington Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $163,542, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Newington Forest's effective rate of 0.92%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Newington Forest
Newington Forest's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Newington Forest.
Who works in Newington Forest, and how
Work in Newington Forest centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Newington Forest
The coast is about 10 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Newington Forest, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Newington Forest, month by month
Newington Forest sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Newington Forest
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 14 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Newington Forest
Schools across Newington Forest average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Laurel Hill ElementaryA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- South County MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
Top high schools
- South County HighA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Newington Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Newington Forest 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 Newington Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Newington Forest
Is Newington Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Newington Forest ranks 738th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, population health, and civic engagement, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Newington Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,013,000. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $163,542 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Newington Forest safe?
Yes, Newington Forest is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $185 per resident a year.
Compare Newington Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Newington Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Newington Forest 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.
Newington Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Newington Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Newington Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Newington Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Newington Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Newington Forest 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.