Best PlacesPrince Edward County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Prince Edward 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.
Prince Edward County ranks 2,191st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Prince Edward 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.
Prince Edward County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Prince Edward County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of counties
- TransitBetter than 84% of counties
Where Prince Edward County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Household income$52,135 median, better than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Prince Edward County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Prince Edward County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $52,135; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Prince Edward County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County runs younger 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 Prince Edward County.
Who works in Prince Edward County, and how
Work in Prince Edward County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Prince Edward County
Prince Edward County has more parkland per resident than 65% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Prince Edward County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Prince Edward County growing, and who is moving in?
Prince Edward County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Richmond, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Prince Edward County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Prince Edward County, month by month
Prince Edward County sees roughly 60 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° | 39° | 27° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Prince Edward County
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Prince Edward County
Schools across Prince Edward County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Victoria ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Prince Edward ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lunenburg MiddleB · 44% proficient
- Prince Edward MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HighA− · 60% proficient
- Prince Edward County HighC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Prince Edward County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Prince Edward 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 Prince Edward County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Prince Edward County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Prince Edward County
Is Prince Edward County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Prince Edward County ranks 2,191st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, clean air, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the weather and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Prince Edward County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,924. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $52,135 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Prince Edward County safe?
Prince Edward County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Prince Edward County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 27. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of counties.
Is Prince Edward County good for families?
Schools beat 50% of counties, crime safety beats 54%, and childcare runs $590 a month.
Compare Prince Edward County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Prince Edward County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Prince Edward 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.
Prince Edward County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Prince Edward County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Prince Edward County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Prince Edward County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Prince Edward County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Prince Edward 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.