Best PlacesRocky Gap, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rocky Gap, 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.
Rocky Gap ranks 24,375th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rocky Gap
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.
Rocky Gap's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rocky Gap ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Rocky Gap ranks low
- Household income$47,043 median, better than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute33.5 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rocky Gap
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rocky Gap home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,043, 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 Rocky Gap's effective rate of 0.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Rocky Gap
Rocky Gap 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 Rocky Gap.
Who works in Rocky Gap, and how
Work in Rocky Gap centers on manufacturing and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Rocky Gap
Rocky Gap has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rocky Gap and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rocky Gap, month by month
Rocky Gap sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Rocky Gap
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 38 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 Rocky Gap
Schools across Rocky Gap average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bland County ElementaryA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Bland County HighA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rocky Gap school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rocky Gap 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 Rocky Gap against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rocky Gap
Is Rocky Gap a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rocky Gap ranks 24,375th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and a strong job market, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rocky Gap expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,564. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $47,043 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Rocky Gap safe?
Yes, Rocky Gap is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare Rocky Gap with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rocky Gap. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rocky Gap 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.
Rocky Gap detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rocky Gap: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rocky Gap: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rocky Gap: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rocky Gap: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rocky Gap 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.