Best PlacesSuffolk, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Suffolk, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Suffolk ranks 1,036th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on clean air, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Suffolk
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.
Suffolk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Suffolk ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of cities
- Cheap childcare$837 a month, better than 78% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 78% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of cities
Where Suffolk ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 16% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- Short commute30.2 minutes each way, better than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Suffolk
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Suffolk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,283, 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 Suffolk's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Suffolk
Suffolk's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Suffolk.
Who works in Suffolk, and how
Work in Suffolk centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Suffolk
Suffolk has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 26 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Suffolk and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Suffolk, month by month
Suffolk sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Suffolk
The nearest airport, Norfolk International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Suffolk
Schools across Suffolk average a B+, better than 78% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Northern Shores ElementaryA · 64% proficient
- Florence Bowser ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
- Oakland ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Yeates MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- Western Branch MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Colonel Fred Cherry MiddleA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Western Branch HighA · 77% proficient
- Nansemond River HighA− · 66% proficient
- Churchland HighA− · 66% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Suffolk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Suffolk 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 Suffolk against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Suffolk suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Suffolk
Is Suffolk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Suffolk ranks 1,036th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, cheap car insurance, and affordable childcare, and lowest on cell coverage and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Suffolk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $347,645. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $99,283 median income, cost of living beats 75% of cities.
Is Suffolk safe?
Suffolk is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $462 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Suffolk?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 30. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of cities.
Is Suffolk good for families?
Schools beat 78% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $837 a month.
Compare Suffolk with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Suffolk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Suffolk 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.
Suffolk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Suffolk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Suffolk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Suffolk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Suffolk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Suffolk 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.