Best PlacesShenandoah Caverns, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shenandoah Caverns, 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.
Shenandoah Caverns ranks 16,343rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shenandoah Caverns
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.
Shenandoah Caverns' strengths and weaknesses
Where Shenandoah Caverns ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 78% of towns
Where Shenandoah Caverns ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shenandoah Caverns
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shenandoah Caverns home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,661, 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 Shenandoah Caverns' effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shenandoah Caverns
Shenandoah Caverns 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 Shenandoah Caverns.
Who works in Shenandoah Caverns, and how
Work in Shenandoah Caverns centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Shenandoah Caverns
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shenandoah Caverns.
What the weather is like in Shenandoah Caverns, month by month
Shenandoah Caverns sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Shenandoah Caverns
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shenandoah Caverns
Schools across Shenandoah Caverns average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Honey Run ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Fork MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain View HighB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shenandoah Caverns school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shenandoah Caverns 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 Shenandoah Caverns against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shenandoah Caverns
Is Shenandoah Caverns a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shenandoah Caverns ranks 16,343rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shenandoah Caverns expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,400. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $72,661 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Shenandoah Caverns safe?
Yes, Shenandoah Caverns is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.
Compare Shenandoah Caverns with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shenandoah Caverns. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shenandoah Caverns 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.
Shenandoah Caverns detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shenandoah Caverns: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shenandoah Caverns: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shenandoah Caverns: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shenandoah Caverns: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shenandoah Caverns 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.