Best PlacesSaluda, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Saluda, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Saluda ranks 15,912th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Saluda
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.
Saluda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Saluda ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 81% of towns
Where Saluda ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 29% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Saluda
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saluda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,928, 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 Saluda's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Saluda
Saluda 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 Saluda.
Who works in Saluda, and how
Work in Saluda centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Saluda
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Saluda, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Saluda, month by month
Saluda sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Saluda
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 40 miles away.
The best schools in and around Saluda
Schools across Saluda average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Petsworth ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Middlesex ElementaryB− · 43% proficient
- King & Queen ElementaryC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Peasley MiddleA · 61% proficient
- St. Clare Walker MiddleB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Middlesex HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Gloucester HighA · 69% proficient
- Central HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saluda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saluda 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 Saluda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Saluda
Is Saluda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saluda ranks 15,912th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, cheap car insurance, and civic engagement, and lowest on disaster risk and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Saluda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,067. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $82,928 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Saluda safe?
Yes, Saluda is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $249 per resident a year.
Compare Saluda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saluda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saluda 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.
Saluda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saluda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saluda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saluda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saluda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saluda 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.