Best PlacesWoodlake, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Woodlake, 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.
Woodlake ranks 433rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Woodlake
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.
Woodlake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Woodlake ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of towns
- Household income$138,304 median, better than 96% of towns
Where Woodlake ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,136 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 39% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Woodlake
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Woodlake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $138,304, 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 Woodlake's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Woodlake
Woodlake's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Woodlake.
Who works in Woodlake, and how
Work in Woodlake centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Woodlake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Woodlake.
What the weather is like in Woodlake, month by month
Woodlake sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 38° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Woodlake
Richmond International sits about 21 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.5 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Woodlake
Schools across Woodlake average an A+, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woolridge ElementaryA+ · 82% proficient
- Clover Hill ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tomahawk Creek MiddleA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Cosby HighA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Woodlake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Woodlake 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 Woodlake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Woodlake
Is Woodlake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Woodlake ranks 433rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, health care access, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Woodlake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $378,800. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $138,304 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Woodlake safe?
Yes, Woodlake is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $213 per resident a year.
Compare Woodlake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Woodlake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Woodlake 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.
Woodlake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Woodlake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Woodlake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Woodlake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Woodlake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Woodlake 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.