Best PlacesWaldrop, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waldrop, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Waldrop ranks 2,358th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waldrop
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.
Waldrop's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waldrop ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$126,082 median, better than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Waldrop ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waldrop
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waldrop home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $126,082, 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 Waldrop's effective rate of 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Waldrop
Waldrop runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Waldrop.
Who works in Waldrop, and how
Work in Waldrop centers on professional & technical and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Waldrop
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waldrop.
What the weather is like in Waldrop, month by month
Waldrop sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Waldrop
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waldrop
Schools across Waldrop average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trevilians ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Louisa County MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Louisa County HighA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waldrop school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waldrop 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 Waldrop against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waldrop
Is Waldrop a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waldrop ranks 2,358th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on state finances and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waldrop expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $263,811. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $126,082 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Waldrop safe?
Yes, Waldrop is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $224 per resident a year.
Compare Waldrop with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waldrop. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waldrop 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.
Waldrop detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waldrop: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waldrop: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waldrop: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waldrop: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waldrop 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.