Best PlacesNorfolk City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Norfolk City, 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.
Norfolk City ranks 1,126th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Its strengths are transit and walkability. The cost shows up in noise, crime, and civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Norfolk City
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.
Norfolk City's strengths and weaknesses
Norfolk City lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Walkability and biking follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Crime and civic engagement also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Norfolk City ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
Where Norfolk City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Norfolk City
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norfolk City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,631, 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 Norfolk City's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Norfolk City
Norfolk City runs younger 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 Norfolk City.
Who works in Norfolk City, and how
Work in Norfolk City centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Norfolk City
Norfolk City has more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. The coast is about 6 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Norfolk City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Norfolk City growing, and who is moving in?
Norfolk City has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Virginia Beach, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Norfolk City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Norfolk City, month by month
Norfolk City sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 75° | 65° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Norfolk City
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norfolk City
Schools across Norfolk City average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Larchmont ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Ghent K-8A− · 57% proficient
- Walter Herron Taylor ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Academy For Discovery At LakewoodA · 63% proficient
- Blair MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Northside MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Matthew Fontaine Maury HighA− · 61% proficient
- Phoebus HighA− · 60% proficient
- Norview HighB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norfolk City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norfolk City 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 Norfolk City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Norfolk City suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Norfolk City
Is Norfolk City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norfolk City ranks 1,126th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and biking, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norfolk City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $317,623. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,631 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is Norfolk City safe?
Norfolk City is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $550 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Norfolk City?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 34. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of counties.
Is Norfolk City good for families?
Schools beat 80% of counties, crime safety beats 14%, and childcare runs $983 a month.
Is Norfolk City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 59% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Norfolk City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norfolk City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norfolk City 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.
Norfolk City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norfolk City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norfolk City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norfolk City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norfolk City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norfolk City 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.