Best PlacesPenola, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Penola, 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.
Penola ranks 9,450th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Penola
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.
Penola's strengths and weaknesses
Where Penola ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Household income$110,000 median, better than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Penola ranks low
- Short commute45.3 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Penola
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Penola home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $110,000, 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 Penola's effective rate of 0.29%, 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 Penola
Penola's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Penola.
Who works in Penola, and how
Work in Penola 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 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Penola
The coast is about 42 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Penola, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Penola, month by month
Penola sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Penola
Richmond International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Penola
Schools across Penola average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bowling Green ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Caroline MiddleB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Caroline HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Penola school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Penola 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 Penola against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Penola
Is Penola a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Penola ranks 9,450th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Penola expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,500. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $110,000 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Penola safe?
Yes, Penola is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Penola with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Penola. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Penola 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.
Penola detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Penola: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Penola: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Penola: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Penola: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Penola 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.