Best PlacesClifton, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Clifton 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.
Clifton ranks 8th of 50333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on what local pay buys and lowest on childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Clifton
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.
Clifton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clifton ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 100% of towns
- Household income$225,930 median, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
Where Clifton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of towns
- Short commute30.9 minutes each way, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clifton
A household needs to earn about $239,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clifton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $225,930; 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 Clifton'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 Clifton
Clifton runs older than the country, 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 Clifton.
Who works in Clifton, and how
Work in Clifton centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Clifton
Clifton has more parkland per resident than 84% of towns. The coast is about 23 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Clifton, month by month
Clifton sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 72° | 57° | 43° |
| July | 91° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Clifton
Washington Dulles International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Clifton
Schools across Clifton average an A, better than 96% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Willow Springs ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Oak View ElementaryA+ · 80% proficient
- Fairview ElementaryA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- Johnson MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Liberty MiddleA · 65% proficient
- H.h. Poole MiddleA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Centreville HighA+ · 82% proficient
- Robinson SecondaryA · 76% proficient
- North Stafford HighA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clifton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clifton 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 Clifton against the other 50332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clifton
Is Clifton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clifton ranks 8th of 50333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and population health, 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 Clifton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $879,392. The overall cost of living runs about 28% above the national average. Set against a $225,930 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Clifton safe?
Yes, Clifton is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
Compare Clifton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clifton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clifton 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.
Clifton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clifton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clifton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clifton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clifton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clifton 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.