Best PlacesWillis Wharf, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willis Wharf, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Willis Wharf ranks 38,775th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Willis Wharf
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.
Willis Wharf's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willis Wharf ranks high
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 91% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
Where Willis Wharf ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$52,009 median, better than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willis Wharf
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willis Wharf home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,009, 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 Willis Wharf's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Willis Wharf
Willis Wharf's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Willis Wharf.
Who works in Willis Wharf, and how
Work in Willis Wharf centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Willis Wharf
The coast is about 15 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Willis Wharf, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Willis Wharf, month by month
Willis Wharf sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 67° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Willis Wharf
The nearest airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Willis Wharf
Schools across Willis Wharf average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pungoteague ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
- Occohannock ElementaryC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nandua MiddleA− · 55% proficient
- Northampton MiddleB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Nandua HighA · 73% proficient
- Northampton HighA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willis Wharf school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willis Wharf 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 Willis Wharf against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willis Wharf
Is Willis Wharf a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willis Wharf ranks 38,775th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, transit, and tree cover, and lowest on disaster risk and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willis Wharf expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,131. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $52,009 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Willis Wharf safe?
Willis Wharf is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $546 per resident a year.
Compare Willis Wharf with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willis Wharf. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willis Wharf 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.
Willis Wharf detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willis Wharf: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willis Wharf: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willis Wharf: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willis Wharf: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willis Wharf 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.