Best PlacesShockoe Bottom, Richmond, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shockoe Bottom, Richmond, 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.
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond ranks 2,368th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
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.
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shockoe Bottom, Richmond ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Shockoe Bottom, Richmond ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
A household needs to earn about $157,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shockoe Bottom, Richmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,722, 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 Shockoe Bottom, Richmond's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond 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 Shockoe Bottom, Richmond.
Who works in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond, and how
Work in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 89% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shockoe Bottom, Richmond and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond, month by month
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 28° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Richmond International sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Schools across Shockoe Bottom, Richmond average a D+, better than 16% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Chimborazo ElementaryC · 35% proficient
- Bellevue ElementaryC · 31% proficient
- John B. Cary ElementaryD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Binford MiddleB · 47% proficient
- Thomas C. Boushall MiddleD− · 17% proficient
- Martin Luther King Jr. MiddleF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Armstrong HighC− · 27% proficient
- George Wythe HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shockoe Bottom, Richmond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond 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 Shockoe Bottom, Richmond against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond
Is Shockoe Bottom, Richmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shockoe Bottom, Richmond ranks 2,368th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on walkability, population health, and a strong job market, and lowest on noise and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shockoe Bottom, Richmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $584,944. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $60,722 median income, cost of living beats 52% of neighborhoods.
Is Shockoe Bottom, Richmond safe?
Yes, Shockoe Bottom, Richmond is safer than 70% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
Compare Shockoe Bottom, Richmond with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shockoe Bottom, Richmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond 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.
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shockoe Bottom, Richmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shockoe Bottom, Richmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shockoe Bottom, Richmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shockoe Bottom, Richmond 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.