Best PlacesOreton, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oreton, 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.
Oreton ranks 26,944th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oreton
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.
Oreton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oreton ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$532 a month, better than 89% of towns
- Short commute20.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
Where Oreton ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- Household income$47,270 median, better than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oreton
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oreton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,270, 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 Oreton's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oreton
Oreton runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Oreton.
Who works in Oreton, and how
Work in Oreton centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Oreton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oreton.
What the weather is like in Oreton, month by month
Oreton sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Oreton
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oreton
Schools across Oreton average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wise PrimaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Duffield-pattonsville PrimaryA · 68% proficient
- St. Charles ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Union MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Pennington MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Rye Cove IntermediateB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Union HighA− · 67% proficient
- Lee HighA− · 59% proficient
- Rye Cove HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oreton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oreton 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 Oreton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oreton
Is Oreton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oreton ranks 26,944th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, tree cover, and affordable childcare, and lowest on biking and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oreton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,551. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $47,270 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Oreton safe?
Oreton is safer than 45% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $324 per resident a year.
Compare Oreton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oreton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oreton 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.
Oreton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oreton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oreton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oreton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oreton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oreton 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.