Best PlacesSusan, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Susan, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Susan ranks 28,542nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Susan
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.
Susan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Susan ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
Where Susan ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute42.0 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Susan
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Susan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,395, 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 Susan's effective rate of 0.50%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Susan
Susan runs older 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 Susan.
Who works in Susan, and how
Work in Susan centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Susan
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Susan, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Susan, month by month
Susan sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 52, 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 | 52° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 75° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Susan
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 57 miles away.
The best schools in and around Susan
Schools across Susan average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mathews ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thomas Hunter MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Mathews HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Susan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Susan 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 Susan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Susan
Is Susan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Susan ranks 28,542nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and health care access, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Susan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $346,637. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $65,395 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Susan safe?
Yes, Susan is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare Susan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Susan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Susan 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.
Susan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Susan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Susan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Susan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Susan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Susan 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.