Best PlacesRussell County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Russell County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Russell County ranks 1,823rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Russell 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 Russell County
The parts of Russell 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.
Lebanon
Fewer homes sit empty, more adults hold degrees, and more residents vote.
Honaker
More households have young kids and prices have run up less.
Castlewood
Scores close to Honaker, except that tree cover is thinner here.
Scores across Russell County run from about the 6th to the 65th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Russell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Russell County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Cheap childcare$512 a month, better than 88% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of counties
Where Russell County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 15% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Russell County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Russell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,898, 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 Russell County's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Russell County
Russell 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 Russell County.
Who works in Russell County, and how
Work in Russell County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Russell County
Russell 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 Russell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Russell County growing, and who is moving in?
Russell County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kingsport, TN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Russell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Russell County, month by month
Russell County sees roughly 104 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 Russell County
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Russell County
Schools across Russell County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Belfast ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Honaker ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Castlewood ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ridgeview MiddleA · 63% proficient
- Lebanon MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Honaker HighA− · 65% proficient
- Lebanon HighA− · 65% proficient
- Ridgeview HighA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Russell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Russell 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 Russell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Russell County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 63% of counties, health care access beats 56%, and it is quieter than 67%.
Common questions about living in Russell County
Is Russell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Russell County ranks 1,823rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and affordable childcare, and lowest on education levels and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Russell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,233. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $55,898 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Russell County safe?
Russell County is safer than 41% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Russell County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 28. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Russell County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lebanon, Honaker, and Castlewood. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Russell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Russell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Russell 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.
Russell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Russell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Russell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Russell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Russell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Russell 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.