Best PlacesWillow, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willow, 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.
Willow ranks 21,901st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Willow
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willow ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$558 a month, better than 86% of towns
Where Willow ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willow
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willow home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,088, 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's effective rate of 0.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Willow
Willow runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Willow.
Who works in Willow, and how
Work in Willow centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Willow
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Willow.
What the weather is like in Willow, month by month
Willow sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 58° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 66° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Willow
The nearest airport, Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Richmond International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Willow
Schools across Willow average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Big Island ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Enderly Heights ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Parry Mccluer MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Liberty HighB+ · 53% proficient
- Parry Mccluer HighB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willow school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willow 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willow
Is Willow a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willow ranks 21,901st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willow expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,700. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $68,088 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Willow safe?
Yes, Willow is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare Willow with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willow. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willow 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willow: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willow: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willow: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willow: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willow 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.