Best PlacesRaven, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Raven, 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.
Raven ranks 35,322nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Raven
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.
Raven's strengths and weaknesses
Where Raven ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap childcare$488 a month, better than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Raven ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Household income$54,489 median, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Raven
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Raven home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,489, 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 Raven's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Raven
Raven runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Raven.
Who works in Raven, and how
Work in Raven centers on health care & social and mining & oil & gas. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Raven
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Raven.
What the weather is like in Raven, month by month
Raven sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Raven
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Raven
Schools across Raven average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Richlands ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Swords Creek ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Twin Valley Elementary/middleB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Richlands MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Richlands HighA · 72% proficient
- Honaker HighA− · 65% proficient
- Twin Valley HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Raven school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Raven 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 Raven against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Raven
Is Raven a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Raven ranks 35,322nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and good schools, and lowest on health outcomes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Raven expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,905. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $54,489 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Raven safe?
Raven is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $390 per resident a year.
Compare Raven with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Raven. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Raven 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.
Raven detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Raven: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Raven: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Raven: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Raven: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Raven 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.