Best PlacesPatrick County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Patrick County, 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.
Patrick County ranks 1,557th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and walkability ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Patrick 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.
Patrick County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Patrick County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of counties
- QuietBetter than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of counties
Where Patrick County ranks low
- WalkabilityBetter than only 2% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 3% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Patrick County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Patrick County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,254, 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 Patrick County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Patrick County
Patrick County runs older 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 Patrick County.
Who works in Patrick County, and how
Work in Patrick County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Patrick County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Patrick County.
Is Patrick County growing, and who is moving in?
Patrick County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Henry County, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Patrick County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Patrick County, month by month
Patrick County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Patrick County
The nearest airport, Piedmont Triad International, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Patrick County
Schools across Patrick County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stuart ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Meadows Of Dan ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Blue Ridge ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hardin Reynolds Memorial SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Patrick County HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Patrick County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Patrick 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 Patrick County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Patrick County
Is Patrick County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Patrick County ranks 1,557th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on walkability and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Patrick County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,160. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $61,254 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Patrick County safe?
Yes, Patrick County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
Compare Patrick County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Patrick County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Patrick 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.
Patrick County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Patrick County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Patrick County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Patrick County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Patrick County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Patrick 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.