Best PlacesWhitacre, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whitacre, 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.
Whitacre ranks 1,583rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Whitacre
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.
Whitacre's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whitacre ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$130,610 median, better than 95% of towns
Where Whitacre ranks low
- Short commute41.6 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Whitacre
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whitacre home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $130,610, 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 Whitacre's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whitacre
Whitacre runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Whitacre.
Who works in Whitacre, and how
Work in Whitacre centers on health care & social and wholesale trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Whitacre
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Whitacre.
What the weather is like in Whitacre, month by month
Whitacre sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 65° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Whitacre
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whitacre
Schools across Whitacre average a B, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gainesboro ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frederick County MiddleB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- James Wood HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whitacre school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whitacre 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 Whitacre against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Whitacre
Is Whitacre a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whitacre ranks 1,583rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low crime, and what local pay buys, and lowest on long commutes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whitacre expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $440,232. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $130,610 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Whitacre safe?
Yes, Whitacre is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $114 per resident a year.
Compare Whitacre with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whitacre. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whitacre 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.
Whitacre detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whitacre: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whitacre: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whitacre: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whitacre: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whitacre 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.