Best PlacesProvidence Forge, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Providence Forge, 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.
Providence Forge ranks 7,225th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Providence Forge
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.
Providence Forge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Providence Forge ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- Household income$102,376 median, better than 86% of towns
Where Providence Forge ranks low
- Short commute39.1 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Providence Forge
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Providence Forge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,376, 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 Providence Forge'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Providence Forge
Providence Forge runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Providence Forge.
Who works in Providence Forge, and how
Work in Providence Forge centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Providence Forge
The coast is about 40 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Providence Forge, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Providence Forge, month by month
Providence Forge sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Providence Forge
Richmond International sits about 16 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 Providence Forge
Schools across Providence Forge average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- George W. Watkins ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- New Kent ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Charles City County ElementaryC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Kent MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- New Kent HighA · 76% proficient
- Charles City County HighB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Providence Forge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Providence Forge 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 Providence Forge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Providence Forge
Is Providence Forge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Providence Forge ranks 7,225th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on long commutes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Providence Forge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $355,139. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $102,376 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Providence Forge safe?
Yes, Providence Forge is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $293 per resident a year.
Compare Providence Forge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Providence Forge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Providence Forge 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.
Providence Forge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Providence Forge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Providence Forge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Providence Forge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Providence Forge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Providence Forge 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.