Best PlacesPrince William County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Prince William County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Prince William County ranks 65th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $144,552, wages outrun the cost of living, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, childcare costs, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Prince William 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.
The best areas in Prince William County
The parts of Prince William County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Nokesville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Gainesville, Haymarket & Linton Hall
More residents vote, though tree cover is thinner.
Dale City, Buckhall & Manassas
Scores close to Gainesville, Haymarket & Linton Hall, except that commutes are longer here.
Montclair & Dumfries
Scores close to Dale City, Buckhall & Manassas, except that more households have young kids here.
Lake Ridge
Prices have run up less.
Woodbridge, Cherry Hill & Neabsco
Biking is better, though schools score lower.
Sudley & Yorkshire
Streets are more walkable, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Prince William County run from about the 16th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Prince William County's strengths and weaknesses
Prince William County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and what local pay buys follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Prince William County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$144,552 median, better than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
Where Prince William County ranks low
- Short commute36.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,333 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 74 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Prince William County
A household needs to earn about $143,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Prince William County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $144,552, 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 Prince William County's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 9 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 William County
Prince William County runs younger than the country, 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 Prince William County.
Who works in Prince William County, and how
Work in Prince William County centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Prince William County
Prince William County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Prince William County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Prince William County growing, and who is moving in?
Prince William County has grown about 12% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Washington, DC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Prince William 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 William County, month by month
Prince William County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Prince William County
Washington Dulles International sits about 18 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 Prince William County
Schools across Prince William County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sangster ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Mary G. Porter TraditionalA+ · 81% proficient
- Glenkirk ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mercer MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
- South County MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Ronald Wilson Reagan MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Battlefield HighA+ · 83% proficient
- Centreville HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Prince William County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Prince William 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 William County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Prince William County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Prince William County
Is Prince William County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Prince William County ranks 65th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Prince William County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $540,901. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $144,552 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Prince William County safe?
Yes, Prince William County is safer than 75% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Prince William County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 23. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Prince William County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Nokesville, Gainesville, Haymarket & Linton Hall, and Dale City, Buckhall & Manassas. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Prince William County good for families?
Schools beat 92% of counties, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $1,333 a month.
Is Prince William County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 56% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Prince William County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Prince William County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Prince William 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 William County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Prince William County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Prince William County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Prince William County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Prince William County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Prince William 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.