Best PlacesBurke, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Burke 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.
Burke ranks 8th of 2098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low crime and lowest on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Burke
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.
Burke's strengths and weaknesses
Where Burke ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 100% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$186,713 median, better than 99% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of cities
Where Burke ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 19% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Burke
A household needs to earn about $197,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Burke home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $186,713; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Burke's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Burke
Burke'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 Burke.
Who works in Burke, and how
Work in Burke centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Burke
Burke has more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. The coast is about 16 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Burke, month by month
Burke sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 26. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Burke
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl sits about 13 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 Burke
Schools across Burke average an A+, better than 97% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sangster ElementaryA+ · 91% proficient
- Keene Mill ElementaryA+ · 87% proficient
- Cherry Run ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Irving MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- South County MiddleA+ · 73% proficient
- Kings Glen ElementaryA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryA+ · 83% proficient
- West Springfield HighA · 78% proficient
- Robinson SecondaryA · 76% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Burke school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Burke 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 Burke against the other 2097 cities.
Who Burke suits
Families
Schools beat 97% 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 92% of cities and 30% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Burke
Is Burke a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Burke ranks 8th of 2098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on the weather and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Burke expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $728,883. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $186,713 median income, cost of living beats 92% of cities.
Is Burke safe?
Yes, Burke is safer than 100% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $118 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Burke?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 26. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Burke good for families?
Schools beat 97% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Compare Burke with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Burke. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Burke 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.
Burke detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Burke: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Burke: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Burke: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Burke: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Burke 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.