Best PlacesSterling, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sterling, 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.
Sterling ranks 181st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sterling
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.
Sterling's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sterling ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Household income$154,003 median, better than 92% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 86% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of cities
Where Sterling ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,632 a month, better than only 9% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sterling
A household needs to earn about $153,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sterling home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $154,003, 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 Sterling's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sterling
Sterling 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 Sterling.
Who works in Sterling, and how
Work in Sterling centers on professional & technical and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sterling
Sterling has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. The coast is about 35 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sterling and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Sterling, month by month
Sterling sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Sterling
Washington Dulles International sits about 6 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 Sterling
Schools across Sterling average a B, better than 67% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Rosa Lee Carter ElementaryA+ · 87% proficient
- Lowes Island ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Floris ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carson MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
- Stone Hill MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Farmwell Station MiddleA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Riverside HighA+ · 85% proficient
- John Champe HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Briar Woods HighA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sterling school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sterling 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 Sterling against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Sterling suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Sterling
Is Sterling a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sterling ranks 181st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, high incomes, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sterling expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $584,012. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $154,003 median income, cost of living beats 79% of cities.
Is Sterling safe?
Yes, Sterling is safer than 98% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sterling?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of cities.
Is Sterling good for families?
Schools beat 67% of cities, crime safety beats 98%, and childcare runs $1,632 a month.
Compare Sterling with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sterling. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sterling 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.
Sterling detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sterling: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sterling: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sterling: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sterling: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sterling 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.