Best PlacesOrange County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Orange County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Orange County ranks 282nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Orange 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.
The best areas in Orange County
The parts of Orange County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Lake of the Woods & Locust Grove
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Gordonsville
Commutes are shorter, though it is noisier.
Orange
Fewer adults hold degrees and tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Orange County run from about the 32nd to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Orange County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orange County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 91% of counties
- Household income$95,172 median, better than 90% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of counties
Where Orange County ranks low
- Short commute37.0 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 27% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Orange County
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orange County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,172, 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 Orange County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Orange County
Orange County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Orange County.
Who works in Orange County, and how
Work in Orange County centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Orange County
Orange County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 52 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Orange County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Orange County growing, and who is moving in?
Orange County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Orange County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Orange County, month by month
Orange County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Orange County
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Orange County
Schools across Orange County average an A−, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Brock Road ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Stone Robinson ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Gordon-barbour ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ni River MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Louisa County MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Locust Grove MiddleA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Louisa County HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Riverbend HighA · 75% proficient
- Eastern View HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orange County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orange 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 Orange County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Orange County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Orange County
Is Orange County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orange County ranks 282nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, big-city access, and a strong job market, and lowest on long commutes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orange County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $359,491. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $95,172 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Orange County safe?
Yes, Orange County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Orange County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Orange County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lake of the Woods & Locust Grove, Gordonsville, and Orange. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Orange County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orange County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orange 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.
Orange County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orange County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orange County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orange County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orange County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orange 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.