Best PlacesSussex, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sussex, 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 ranks 45,947th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sussex
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sussex ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 78% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 72% of towns
Where Sussex ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute37.7 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$51,363 median, better than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sussex
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sussex home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $51,363, 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 Sussex's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Sussex
Sussex 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 Sussex.
Who works in Sussex, and how
Work in Sussex centers on manufacturing and retail trade. 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 Sussex
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sussex.
What the weather is like in Sussex, month by month
Sussex sees roughly 69 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
Richmond International sits about 40 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
Schools across Sussex average a B−, better than 61% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- 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 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sussex 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sussex
Is Sussex a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sussex ranks 45,947th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, cheap car insurance, and clean air, 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 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $239,983. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $51,363 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Sussex safe?
Sussex is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $757 per resident a year.
Compare Sussex with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sussex. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sussex 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sussex: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sussex: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sussex: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sussex: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sussex 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.