Best PlacesSussex County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sussex County, 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.
Sussex County ranks 2,768th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Sussex 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.
Sussex County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sussex County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 80% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 72% of counties
Where Sussex County ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Short commute36.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sussex County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sussex County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,160, 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 Sussex County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sussex County
Sussex County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Sussex County.
Who works in Sussex County, and how
Work in Sussex County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sussex County
Sussex County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sussex County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sussex County growing, and who is moving in?
Sussex County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Virginia Beach, VA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sussex County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sussex County, month by month
Sussex County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 53, 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 | 53° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 46° |
| July | 92° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Sussex County
Richmond International sits about 37 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Sussex County
Schools across Sussex County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Greensville ElementaryB− · 41% proficient
- Sussex Central ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sussex Central MiddleB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Sussex Central HighB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sussex County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sussex 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 Sussex County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sussex County
Is Sussex County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sussex County ranks 2,768th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, big-city access, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on crime and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sussex County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,859. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $65,160 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Sussex County safe?
Sussex County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $826 per resident a year.
Compare Sussex County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sussex County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sussex 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.
Sussex County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sussex County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sussex County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sussex County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sussex County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sussex 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.