Best PlacesSalt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach ranks 1,927th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
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.
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach's strengths and weaknesses
Where Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 71% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 70% of neighborhoods
Where Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,745, 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 Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach 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 Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach.
Who works in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach, and how
Work in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 1 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach, month by month
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 49° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
Schools across Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach average an A−, better than 96% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Virginia Beach MiddleA+ · 80% proficient
- Bayside 6th Grade CampusB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Frank W. Cox HighA+ · 83% proficient
- First Colonial HighA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach 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 Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach
Is Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach ranks 1,927th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on good schools, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,638. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $84,745 median income, cost of living beats 64% of neighborhoods.
Is Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach safe?
Yes, Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach is safer than 60% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $421 per resident a year.
Compare Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach 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.
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salt Meadow Bay, Virginia Beach 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.