Best PlacesThornburg, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thornburg, 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.
Thornburg ranks 15,204th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thornburg
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.
Thornburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thornburg ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Household income$99,868 median, better than 85% of towns
Where Thornburg ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Short commute32.2 minutes each way, better than only 23% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thornburg
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thornburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $99,868; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Thornburg's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thornburg
Thornburg's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Thornburg.
Who works in Thornburg, and how
Work in Thornburg centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Thornburg
The coast is about 30 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Thornburg, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Thornburg, month by month
Thornburg sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, 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 | 48° | 38° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Thornburg
Richmond International sits about 46 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 Thornburg
Schools across Thornburg average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Riverview ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spotsylvania MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Thornburg MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Post Oak MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Massaponax HighA · 68% proficient
- Spotsylvania HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thornburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thornburg 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 Thornburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thornburg
Is Thornburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thornburg ranks 15,204th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, few empty homes, and big-city access, and lowest on noise and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thornburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $407,115. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $99,868 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Thornburg safe?
Thornburg is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $497 per resident a year.
Compare Thornburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thornburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thornburg 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.
Thornburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thornburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thornburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thornburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thornburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thornburg 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.