Best PlacesRichmond City, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Richmond City, 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.
Richmond City ranks 822nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and an overheated housing market. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Richmond City
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.
Richmond City's strengths and weaknesses
Richmond City lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Biking and walkability follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and childcare costs also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Richmond City ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of counties
- BikingBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
Where Richmond City ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,120 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Richmond City
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richmond City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,297, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Richmond City's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 Richmond City
Richmond City 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 Richmond City.
Who works in Richmond City, and how
Work in Richmond City centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Richmond City
Richmond City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties and more parkland per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Richmond City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Richmond City growing, and who is moving in?
Richmond City has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Richmond, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Richmond City go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Richmond City, month by month
Richmond City sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Richmond City
Richmond International sits about 8 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 Richmond City
Schools across Richmond City average a C, better than 47% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Henry Marsh Iii ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Tuckahoe ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- Mary Munford ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tuckahoe MiddleA+ · 74% proficient
- Albert Hill MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- George H. Moody MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Richmond Community HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Open HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Richmond AlternativeA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richmond City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richmond City 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 Richmond City against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Richmond City suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Richmond City
Is Richmond City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richmond City ranks 822nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richmond City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $395,531. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $72,297 median income, cost of living beats 63% of counties.
Is Richmond City safe?
Richmond City is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $520 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Richmond City?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 28. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
Is Richmond City good for families?
Schools beat 47% of counties, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,120 a month.
Is Richmond City good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 63% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 53% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Richmond City with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richmond City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richmond City 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.
Richmond City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richmond City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richmond City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richmond City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richmond City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richmond City 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.