Best PlacesWares Crossroads, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wares Crossroads, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wares Crossroads ranks 6,942nd 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 Wares Crossroads
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.
Wares Crossroads' strengths and weaknesses
Where Wares Crossroads ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
Where Wares Crossroads ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of towns
- Short commute30.0 minutes each way, better than only 33% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wares Crossroads
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wares Crossroads home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,413, 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 Wares Crossroads' effective rate of 0.63%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wares Crossroads
Wares Crossroads runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wares Crossroads.
Who works in Wares Crossroads, and how
Work in Wares Crossroads centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wares Crossroads
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wares Crossroads.
What the weather is like in Wares Crossroads, month by month
Wares Crossroads sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Wares Crossroads
The nearest airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wares Crossroads
Schools across Wares Crossroads average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Livingston ElementaryA− · 57% proficient
- Thomas Jefferson ElementaryA− · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Louisa County MiddleA+ · 69% proficient
- Post Oak MiddleB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Louisa County HighA+ · 85% proficient
- Spotsylvania HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wares Crossroads school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wares Crossroads 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 Wares Crossroads against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wares Crossroads
Is Wares Crossroads a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wares Crossroads ranks 6,942nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, good schools, and big-city access, 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 Wares Crossroads expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,557. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $93,413 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Wares Crossroads safe?
Yes, Wares Crossroads is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
Compare Wares Crossroads with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wares Crossroads. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wares Crossroads 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.
Wares Crossroads detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wares Crossroads: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wares Crossroads: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wares Crossroads: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wares Crossroads: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wares Crossroads 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.