Best PlacesWillow Spring, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willow Spring, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Willow Spring ranks 28,957th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Willow Spring
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.
Willow Spring's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willow Spring ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$528 a month, better than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of towns
Where Willow Spring ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 11% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute34.1 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willow Spring
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willow Spring home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,488, 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 Willow Spring'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 Willow Spring
Willow Spring runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Willow Spring.
Who works in Willow Spring, and how
Work in Willow Spring centers on construction and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Willow Spring
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Willow Spring.
What the weather is like in Willow Spring, month by month
Willow Spring sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Willow Spring
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Willow Spring
Schools across Willow Spring average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greendale ElementaryA+ · 75% proficient
- Lebanon ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Valley Institute ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wallace MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- E.b. Stanley MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
- Lebanon MiddleA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Abingdon HighA · 75% proficient
- John S. Battle HighA · 68% proficient
- Lebanon HighA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willow Spring school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willow Spring 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 Willow Spring against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willow Spring
Is Willow Spring a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willow Spring ranks 28,957th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, affordable childcare, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willow Spring expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,419. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $65,488 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Willow Spring safe?
Willow Spring is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
Compare Willow Spring with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willow Spring. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willow Spring 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.
Willow Spring detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willow Spring: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willow Spring: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willow Spring: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willow Spring: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willow Spring 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.