Best PlacesValley Falls, RI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Valley Falls, 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.
Valley Falls ranks 11,526th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Valley Falls
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.
Valley Falls' strengths and weaknesses
Where Valley Falls ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 91% of towns
Where Valley Falls ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,309 a month, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Valley Falls
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valley Falls home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,238, 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 Valley Falls' effective rate of 1.16%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Valley Falls
Valley Falls runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Valley Falls.
Who works in Valley Falls, and how
Work in Valley Falls centers on health care & social and manufacturing. 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 Valley Falls
Valley Falls has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 40 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Valley Falls and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Valley Falls, month by month
Valley Falls sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Valley Falls
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Valley Falls
Schools across Valley Falls average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Garvin MemorialB− · 40% proficient
- B.f. Norton Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Cumberland MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Joseph L. Mccourt MsC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Cumberland High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Blackstone Valley Prep HighD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valley Falls school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valley Falls 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 Valley Falls against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Valley Falls
Is Valley Falls a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valley Falls ranks 11,526th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on state finances and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Valley Falls expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $387,880. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $93,238 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Valley Falls safe?
Yes, Valley Falls is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
Compare Valley Falls with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valley Falls. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valley Falls 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.
Valley Falls detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valley Falls: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valley Falls: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valley Falls: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valley Falls: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valley Falls 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.