Best PlacesStafford, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stafford, 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 ranks 309th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Stafford
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stafford ranks high
- Household income$152,292 median, better than 92% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of cities
Where Stafford ranks low
- Short commute37.0 minutes each way, better than only 3% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stafford
A household needs to earn about $134,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stafford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $152,292, 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'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
Stafford 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.
Who works in Stafford, and how
Work in Stafford centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Stafford
Stafford has more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Stafford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stafford, month by month
Stafford sees roughly 70 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
Washington Dulles International sits about 34 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
Schools across Stafford average an A−, better than 84% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Margaret Brent ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Winding Creek ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Stafford ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rodney E. Thompson MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Andrew G. Wright MiddleA · 60% proficient
- T. Benton Gayle MiddleA− · 58% 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 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stafford 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stafford suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Stafford
Is Stafford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stafford ranks 309th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on high incomes, heat safety, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stafford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $524,153. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $152,292 median income, cost of living beats 86% of cities.
Is Stafford safe?
Yes, Stafford is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stafford?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 29. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 26% of cities.
Is Stafford good for families?
Schools beat 84% of cities, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $1,027 a month.
Compare Stafford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stafford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stafford 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stafford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stafford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stafford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stafford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stafford 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.