Best PlacesRoanoke County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Roanoke 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.
Roanoke County ranks 145th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Roanoke 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 Roanoke County
The parts of Roanoke 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.
Cave Spring
More adults hold degrees and schools score higher.
Roanoke
More residents vote and fewer homes sit empty.
Salem
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Hollins
Crime runs higher and it is noisier.
Vinton
Biking is better, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Roanoke County run from about the 28th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Roanoke County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roanoke County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of counties
Where Roanoke County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$974 a month, better than only 18% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Roanoke County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roanoke County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,136, 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 Roanoke County's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Roanoke County
Roanoke County runs older 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 Roanoke County.
Who works in Roanoke County, and how
Work in Roanoke County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Roanoke County
Roanoke County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Roanoke County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Roanoke County growing, and who is moving in?
Roanoke County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Roanoke, VA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Roanoke County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Roanoke County, month by month
Roanoke County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, 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 | 49° | 38° | 28° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 74° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Roanoke County
The nearest airport, Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional (Woodrum Field), is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roanoke County
Schools across Roanoke County average an A, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Penn Forest ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Crystal Spring ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Cave Spring ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hidden Valley MiddleA+ · 80% proficient
- Cave Spring MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Glenvar MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Hidden Valley HighA+ · 87% proficient
- Cave Spring HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Glenvar HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roanoke County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roanoke 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 Roanoke County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Roanoke County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Roanoke County
Is Roanoke County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roanoke County ranks 145th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Roanoke County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,260. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,136 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Roanoke County safe?
Yes, Roanoke County is safer than 82% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Roanoke County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 28. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Roanoke County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cave Spring, Roanoke, and Salem. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Roanoke County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roanoke County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roanoke 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.
Roanoke County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roanoke County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roanoke County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roanoke County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roanoke County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roanoke 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.