Best PlacesOrlean, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orlean, 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.
Orlean ranks 2,599th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Orlean
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.
Orlean's strengths and weaknesses
Where Orlean ranks high
- Household income$157,934 median, better than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
Where Orlean ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Orlean
A household needs to earn about $181,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orlean home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $157,934, 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 Orlean's effective rate of 0.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Orlean
Orlean runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Orlean.
Who works in Orlean, and how
Work in Orlean centers on public administration and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Orlean
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Orlean.
What the weather is like in Orlean, month by month
Orlean sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 24° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 92° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Orlean
Washington Dulles International sits about 31 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Orlean
Schools across Orlean average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rappahannock County ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- James G. Brumfield ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- W.g. Coleman ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marshall MiddleA− · 57% proficient
- W.c. Taylor MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Rappahannock County HighA− · 62% proficient
- Fauquier HighA− · 61% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Orlean school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Orlean 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 Orlean against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Orlean
Is Orlean a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orlean ranks 2,599th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, health care access, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orlean expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $708,691. The overall cost of living runs about 25% above the national average. Set against a $157,934 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Orlean safe?
Yes, Orlean is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
Compare Orlean with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orlean. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orlean 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.
Orlean detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orlean: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orlean: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orlean: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orlean: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orlean 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.