QoL Rank
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Virginia

Virginia has a quality of life score of 63/100 (B, good) and ranks #9 of 51 states. Its strongest category is education (87) and its weakest is cost of living (42). Its top-rated larger counties are Loudoun County, York County, Botetourt County.

  • Safety: 68
  • Cost of living: 42
  • Education: 87
  • Quality of life: 55

Key figures: violent crime 214.2 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,579 a month; median home value $383,700; median household income $89,864; life expectancy 77.6 years.

Counties in Virginia, best first

  1. Loudoun County 73
  2. York County 71
  3. Lexington city 70
  4. Botetourt County 69
  5. Goochland County 68
  6. Falls Church city 68
  7. Hanover County 67
  8. James City County 67
  9. Montgomery County 67
  10. Arlington County 67
  11. Fairfax County 66
  12. Albemarle County 66
  13. Roanoke County 66
  14. Fluvanna County 65
  15. Virginia Beach city 64
  16. Washington County 64
  17. New Kent County 64
  18. Bath County 64
  19. Prince George County 63
  20. Stafford County 63
  21. Gloucester County 63
  22. Fauquier County 61
  23. Charlottesville city 61
  24. Salem city 61
  25. Powhatan County 61
  26. King George County 60
  27. Isle of Wight County 60
  28. Chesterfield County 60
  29. Greene County 60
  30. Radford city 60
  31. Augusta County 60
  32. Wise County 60
  33. Bland County 60
  34. Frederick County 60
  35. Staunton city 60
  36. Bedford County 59
  37. Poquoson city 59
  38. Prince William County 59
  39. Highland County 59
  40. Rockingham County 59
  41. Appomattox County 59
  42. Henrico County 59
  43. Campbell County 58
  44. Richmond County 58
  45. Mathews County 58
  46. Floyd County 57
  47. Grayson County 57
  48. Carroll County 57
  49. Williamsburg city 57
  50. Spotsylvania County 56
  51. Chesapeake city 55
  52. Fairfax city 55
  53. Rappahannock County 55
  54. Wythe County 55
  55. Buena Vista city 54
  56. Orange County 54
  57. Franklin County 54
  58. Alexandria city 54
  59. Clarke County 53
  60. Manassas Park city 53
  61. Craig County 53
  62. Harrisonburg city 52
  63. Rockbridge County 52
  64. Giles County 52
  65. Amherst County 51
  66. King William County 51
  67. Shenandoah County 51
  68. Smyth County 51
  69. Warren County 50
  70. Culpeper County 50
  71. Pulaski County 50
  72. Northumberland County 49
  73. Charles City County 49
  74. Hampton city 49
  75. Lynchburg city 49
  76. Bristol city 49
  77. Pittsylvania County 48
  78. Madison County 48
  79. Cumberland County 48
  80. Norton city 48
  81. Patrick County 48
  82. Russell County 48
  83. Surry County 48
  84. Tazewell County 48
  85. Suffolk city 48
  86. Lunenburg County 47
  87. Louisa County 47
  88. Dinwiddie County 47
  89. Charlotte County 47
  90. Lancaster County 47
  91. Winchester city 46
  92. Southampton County 46
  93. Dickenson County 46
  94. Galax city 46
  95. Caroline County 46
  96. Manassas city 46
  97. Alleghany County 46
  98. Scott County 45
  99. Middlesex County 45
  100. Nelson County 45
  101. Colonial Heights city 45
  102. Newport News city 44
  103. Westmoreland County 44
  104. Amelia County 43
  105. Covington city 43
  106. Page County 43
  107. Henry County 42
  108. Mecklenburg County 42
  109. Nottoway County 42
  110. Waynesboro city 41
  111. King and Queen County 41
  112. Norfolk city 41
  113. Fredericksburg city 40
  114. Roanoke city 40
  115. Sussex County 40
  116. Northampton County 39
  117. Buckingham County 38
  118. Lee County 38
  119. Brunswick County 38
  120. Halifax County 37
  121. Greensville County 37
  122. Prince Edward County 36
  123. Martinsville city 36
  124. Richmond city 36
  125. Accomack County 35
  126. Buchanan County 34
  127. Hopewell city 33
  128. Portsmouth city 33
  129. Essex County 31
  130. Franklin city 28
  131. Danville city 26
  132. Petersburg city 25
  133. Emporia city 24

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources