Best PlacesArlington, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Arlington area, 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.
Arlington ranks 4th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $156,550, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Arlington
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.
The best areas in Arlington
The parts of Arlington, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Williamsburg, Yorktown & Rock Spring
Ballston-Virginia Square, Buckingham & Ashton Heights
Cherrydale, Donaldson Run & Waverly Hills
Bluemont, Arlington-East Falls & Westover Village
Clarendon & Lyon Park
Radnor-Ft Myer Heights, North Highland & North Rosslyn
Aurora Highlands, Crystal City & Arlington Ridge
Forest Glen, Glencarlyn & Boulevard Manor
Douglas Park, Columbia Forest & Fairlington-Shirlington
Scores across Arlington run from about the 51st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Arlington's strengths and weaknesses
Arlington ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. An educated workforce, population health, and good schools are the strongest pieces.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, noise, and the weather hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Arlington ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 98% of cities
- Household income$156,550 median, better than 98% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of cities
Where Arlington ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,495 a month, better than only 0% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 4% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Arlington
A household needs to earn about $234,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $156,550, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Arlington's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Arlington
Arlington runs younger than the country, 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 Arlington.
Who works in Arlington, and how
Work in Arlington centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 44%
- Work from home 35%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Arlington
Arlington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of cities and more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. The coast is about 22 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Arlington, month by month
Arlington sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 30. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 74° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Arlington
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 4 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.0 million passengers in 2025, with 128 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Arlington
Schools across Arlington average an A, better than 98% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Nottingham ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Arlington TraditionalA+ · 83% proficient
- Jamestown ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Williamsburg MiddleA+ · 90% proficient
- Dorothy Hamm MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Swanson MiddleA+ · 79% proficient
Top high schools
- Yorktown HighA+ · 88% proficient
- Washington-liberty HighA · 78% proficient
- Arlington Community HighA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arlington 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 Arlington against the other 444 cities.
Who Arlington suits
Families
Schools beat 98% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities and 35% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Arlington
Is Arlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arlington ranks 4th of 445 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and good schools, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $874,324. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $156,550 median income, cost of living beats 86% of cities.
Is Arlington safe?
Yes, Arlington is safer than 72% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Arlington?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 30. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
What are the best neighborhoods in Arlington?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Williamsburg, Yorktown & Rock Spring, Ballston-Virginia Square, Buckingham & Ashton Heights, and Cherrydale, Donaldson Run & Waverly Hills. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Arlington good for families?
Schools beat 98% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Is Arlington good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities, and internet is widely advertised, so a big-employer salary stretches further here.
Compare Arlington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arlington 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.
Arlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arlington 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.