Best PlacesShenandoah County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shenandoah County, 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.
Shenandoah County ranks 1,168th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah County
The parts of Shenandoah 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.
Strasburg
Crime runs lower and more households have young kids.
New Market & Mount Jackson
Tree cover is thinner and heat risk is higher.
Woodstock & Edinburg
It is noisier.
Scores across Shenandoah County run from about the 16th to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Shenandoah County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shenandoah County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 81% of counties
Where Shenandoah County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Short commute28.5 minutes each way, better than only 22% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 29% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shenandoah County
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shenandoah County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $69,479; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 County's 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 County
Shenandoah County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shenandoah County.
Who works in Shenandoah County, and how
Work in Shenandoah County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Shenandoah County
Shenandoah County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shenandoah County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shenandoah County growing, and who is moving in?
Shenandoah County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington, DC.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shenandoah County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shenandoah County, month by month
Shenandoah County sees roughly 77 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 County
The nearest airport, Shenandoah Valley Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shenandoah County
Schools across Shenandoah County average a B+, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sandy Hook ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- Honey Run ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
- A.s. Rhodes ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Fork MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
- Signal Knob MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Peter Muhlenberg MiddleB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain View HighB+ · 56% proficient
- Central HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Skyline HighB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shenandoah County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Shenandoah County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Shenandoah County
Is Shenandoah County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shenandoah County ranks 1,168th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, big-city access, and low crime, and lowest on an overheated housing market and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shenandoah County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,517. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $69,479 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Shenandoah County safe?
Yes, Shenandoah County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $263 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shenandoah County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Shenandoah County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Strasburg, New Market & Mount Jackson, and Woodstock & Edinburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Shenandoah County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shenandoah County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shenandoah 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.
Shenandoah County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shenandoah County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shenandoah County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shenandoah County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shenandoah County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shenandoah 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.