Best PlacesWilliamsburg, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Williamsburg, 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.
Williamsburg ranks 402nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Williamsburg
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.
Williamsburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Williamsburg ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 92% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 88% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of cities
Where Williamsburg ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 24% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Williamsburg
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Williamsburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $105,449; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Williamsburg's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Williamsburg
Williamsburg runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Williamsburg.
Who works in Williamsburg, and how
Work in Williamsburg centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Williamsburg
Williamsburg has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 20 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Williamsburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Williamsburg, month by month
Williamsburg sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 65° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Williamsburg
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Williamsburg
Schools across Williamsburg average an A, better than 92% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Waller Mill ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Stonehouse ElementaryA+ · 74% proficient
- Matoaka ElementaryA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yorktown MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Queens Lake MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Lois Hornsby MiddleA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Jamestown HighA · 79% proficient
- Warhill HighA · 74% proficient
- Lafayette HighA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Williamsburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Williamsburg 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 Williamsburg against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Williamsburg suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Williamsburg
Is Williamsburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Williamsburg ranks 402nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, cheap car insurance, and good schools, and lowest on cell coverage and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Williamsburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $454,640. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $105,449 median income, cost of living beats 81% of cities.
Is Williamsburg safe?
Yes, Williamsburg is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Williamsburg?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 33. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of cities.
Is Williamsburg good for families?
Schools beat 92% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $921 a month.
Compare Williamsburg with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Williamsburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Williamsburg 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.
Williamsburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Williamsburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Williamsburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Williamsburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Williamsburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Williamsburg 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.