Best PlacesPetersburg, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Petersburg, 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.
Petersburg ranks 1,953rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. An overheated housing market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Petersburg
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.
Petersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Petersburg ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of cities
- Cheap childcare$790 a month, better than 82% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 60% of cities
Where Petersburg ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Petersburg
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Petersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,633, 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 Petersburg's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Petersburg
Petersburg's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Petersburg.
Who works in Petersburg, and how
Work in Petersburg centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Petersburg
Petersburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Petersburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Petersburg, month by month
Petersburg sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Petersburg
Richmond International sits about 21 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 Petersburg
Schools across Petersburg average a B−, better than 50% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- South ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Midway ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Middle Road ElementaryA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- J.e.j. Moore MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Matoaca MiddleB+ · 50% proficient
- Dinwiddie County MiddleB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Prince George HighA · 75% proficient
- Matoaca HighA− · 65% proficient
- Thomas Dale HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Petersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Petersburg 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 Petersburg against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Petersburg suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Petersburg
Is Petersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Petersburg ranks 1,953rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, tree cover, and affordable childcare, and lowest on an overheated housing market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Petersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,180. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $62,633 median income, cost of living beats 21% of cities.
Is Petersburg safe?
Petersburg is safer than 2% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $740 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Petersburg?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 27. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Petersburg good for families?
Schools beat 50% of cities, crime safety beats 2%, and childcare runs $790 a month.
Compare Petersburg with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Petersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Petersburg 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.
Petersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Petersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Petersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Petersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Petersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Petersburg 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.