Best PlacesTazewell County, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Tazewell County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tazewell County ranks 2,120th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tazewell 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.
The best areas in Tazewell County
The parts of Tazewell County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Richlands & Cedar Bluff
Fewer homes sit empty and crime runs lower.
Bluefield
It is noisier.
North Tazewell & Tazewell
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Tazewell County run from about the 4th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Tazewell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tazewell County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap childcare$480 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
Where Tazewell County ranks low
- Household income$50,442 median, better than only 9% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 15% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Tazewell County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tazewell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,442, 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 Tazewell County's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tazewell County
Tazewell County 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 Tazewell County.
Who works in Tazewell County, and how
Work in Tazewell County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Tazewell County
Tazewell County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 91% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Tazewell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Tazewell County growing, and who is moving in?
Tazewell County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Mercer County, WV.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Tazewell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Tazewell County, month by month
Tazewell County sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 44° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Tazewell County
The nearest airport, Raleigh County Memorial, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tazewell County
Schools across Tazewell County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Belfast ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Graham IntermediateA+ · 76% proficient
- Richlands ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tazewell MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Graham MiddleA+ · 68% proficient
- Richlands MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Graham HighA+ · 86% proficient
- Tazewell HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Richlands HighA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tazewell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tazewell 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 Tazewell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Tazewell County suits
Common questions about living in Tazewell County
Is Tazewell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tazewell County ranks 2,120th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and affordable childcare, and lowest on low incomes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tazewell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,613. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $50,442 median income, cost of living beats 12% of counties.
Is Tazewell County safe?
Tazewell County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $388 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Tazewell County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 28. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Tazewell County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Richlands & Cedar Bluff, Bluefield, and North Tazewell & Tazewell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Tazewell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tazewell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tazewell 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.
Tazewell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tazewell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tazewell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tazewell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tazewell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tazewell 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.