Best PlacesWashington, DC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Washington metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, via commons
Washington ranks 27th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $141,860, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are long commutes, childcare costs, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in the Washington metro
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 Washington
The towns and districts of the Washington metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Arlington, Fairfax & Reston
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and crime runs lower.
South Riding, Front Royal & Chantilly
Local pay stretches further, though streets are more car-dependent.
Ashburn, Frederick & Leesburg
Biking is worse and tree cover is thinner.
Alexandria, Dale City & Woodbridge
Scores close to Ashburn, Frederick & Leesburg, except that it is noisier here.
Fredericksburg, Manassas & Stafford
More households have young kids, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Gaithersburg, Germantown & Rockville
Incomes run higher and prices have run up less.
Downtown Washington
More homes sit empty and fewer residents vote.
Waldorf, Fort Washington & Clinton
Homes cost less, though commutes are longer.
Silver Spring, Wheaton & Laurel
Washington shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Washington's strengths and weaknesses
Washington ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. An educated workforce and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is long commutes, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Washington ranks high
- Household income$141,860 median, better than 99% of metro areas
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of metro areas
Where Washington ranks low
- Short commute32.4 minutes each way, better than only 1% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$1,559 a month, better than only 4% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Washington
A household needs to earn about $167,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $141,860, 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 Washington's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 Washington
Washington's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Washington.
Who works in Washington, and how
Work in Washington centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 63%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Washington
Washington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 80% of metro areas. The coast is about 30 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Washington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Washington growing, and who is moving in?
Washington has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baltimore, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Washington go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Washington, month by month
Washington sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Washington
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Washington
Schools across Washington average a B−, better than 76% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Poplar Tree ElementaryA+ · 92% proficient
- Sangster ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Colvin Run ElementaryA+ · 89% proficient
Top middle schools
- Williamsburg MiddleA+ · 90% proficient
- Longfellow MiddleA+ · 90% proficient
- Cooper MiddleA+ · 88% proficient
Top high schools
- Thomas Jefferson High For Science And TechnologyA+ · 96% proficient
- Walt Whitman HighA+ · 91% proficient
- Meridian HighA+ · 89% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington 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 Washington against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Washington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of metro areas and 25% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Washington
Is Washington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington ranks 27th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on high incomes, an educated workforce, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $634,251. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $141,860 median income, cost of living beats 96% of metro areas.
Is Washington safe?
Washington is safer than 30% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $445 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Washington?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 30. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Washington?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Arlington, Fairfax & Reston, South Riding, Front Royal & Chantilly, and Ashburn, Frederick & Leesburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Washington good for families?
Schools beat 76% of metro areas, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $1,559 a month.
Is Washington good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 24% of metro areas. About 25% of workers already work from home.
Compare Washington with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington 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.
Washington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington 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.