Best PlacesStafford County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stafford County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stafford County ranks 48th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $146,563, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, noise, and state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Stafford 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.
Stafford County's strengths and weaknesses
Stafford County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. Noise and state finances also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Stafford County ranks high
- Household income$146,563 median, better than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
Where Stafford County ranks low
- Short commute36.2 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,027 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stafford County
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stafford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $146,563, 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 Stafford County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Stafford County
Stafford County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stafford County.
Who works in Stafford County, and how
Work in Stafford County centers on public administration and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Stafford County
Stafford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stafford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stafford County growing, and who is moving in?
Stafford County has grown about 22% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Washington, DC metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stafford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stafford County, month by month
Stafford County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, 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 | 48° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Stafford County
Washington Dulles International sits about 37 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Stafford County
Schools across Stafford County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Margaret Brent ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Winding Creek ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Grafton Village ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rodney E. Thompson MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Andrew G. Wright MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Donald B. Dixon-lyle R. Smith MiddleA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Mountain View HighA · 77% proficient
- Colonial Forge HighA · 74% proficient
- North Stafford HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stafford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stafford 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 Stafford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stafford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Stafford County
Is Stafford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stafford County ranks 48th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on high incomes, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stafford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $506,065. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $146,563 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Stafford County safe?
Yes, Stafford County is safer than 93% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stafford County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 29. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of counties.
Is Stafford County good for families?
Schools beat 91% of counties, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $1,027 a month.
Is Stafford County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 64% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Stafford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stafford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stafford 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.
Stafford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stafford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stafford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stafford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stafford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stafford 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.