VA Towns Graded From A+ To D-: How Did Your Community Do?

Here's a Virginia community report card you should consider. And you may want to think twice about living in a place that was graded with a D.

Niche has come out with its new 2018 rankings of the "Best Places to Live" in Virginia, but for at least second year in row, it took a bit of a unique approach: The consumer rankings service assigned a grade, on an A+ to D- scale, to almost every town in the state.

Nearly 60 communities received A+ grades, topped with towns such as Arlington, Ashburn, Reston, Falls Church, Alexandria, and Herndon. Ten communities received D- grades. The list included sections of towns and city neighborhoods.

"Arlington is a mixing bowl of job opportunities, people, and fun! There is incredible cuisine from many countries, authentic and delicious! Downtown has many options such as Ballston, Clarendon, Court House, Rosslyn, and more for exquisite restaurants, shopping, and night life. There are lots of trees despite the urban atmosphere. The school system is top in the state," one reviewer said of Arlington, which earned an A+ score.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche.com took several factors into consideration, such as the quality of local schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics and access to amenities.

Niche created a standardized score for each factor, and after weighting each factor, an overall score was calculated, which was again given a new standardized score.

Finally, Niche.com created a numerical ranking and assigned grades for each place. Click here to read more about the methodology.

Here are the highest- and lowest-rated Virginia towns, and how they were graded:

A+

• Arlington
• Vienna
• Merrifield
• Stone Ridge
• Oakton
• Broadlands
• South Riding
• Franklin Farm
• Dunn Loring
• Brambleton
• Short Pump
• Belmont
• Ashburn
• Cascades
• Tysons
• Lansdowne
• Idylwood
• Fair Oaks
• McNair
• Reston
• Lowes Island
• Wakefield
• Mantua
• Floris
• Woodlake
• Fair Lakes
• Wolf Trap
• Loudoun Valley Estates
• Falls Church
• McLean
• Blacksburg
• Fairfax
• Dranesville
• Centreville
• Long Branch
• Kingstowne
• Greenbriar
• Leesburg
• Fairfax Station
• Chantilly
• Innsbrook
• Pimmit Hills
• Purcellville
• Hayfield
• Great Falls
• Alexandria
• Crosspointe
• Belmont Estates
• Laurel Hill
• Wyndham
• Bridgewater
• Countryside
• Williamsburg
• Brandermill
• Burke
• Woodburn
• Kings Park
• Herndon

A

• West Springfield
• University Center
• Gainesville
• Franconia
• Bonir
• Crozet
• Huntington
• Haymarket
• Cave Spring
• Kings Park West
• Newington Forest
• Montclair
• Dulles Town Center
• Belle Haven
• Hollymead
• Charlottesville
• Linton Hall
• Fort Hunt
• Newington
• Independent Hill
• South Run
• Moorefield Station
• Sugarland Run
• Lake Barcroft
• Tuckahoe
• Pantops
• Lake Ridge
• Massanetta Springs
• Virginia Beach
• Oak Grove
• Rose Hill
• Lincolnia
• West Falls Church
• Mount Vernon
• Lorton
• Mason Neck
• Manchester
• Merrimac
• Neabsco
• Forest
• Piney Mountain
• Christiansburg

A-

• Salem
• Sterling
• Aquia Harbour
• Buckhall
• Chamberlayne
• Poquoson
• Glen Allen
• Mechanicsville
• Chesapeake
• Annandale
• Lexington
• Seven Corners
• Ashland
• Fredericksburg
• Lovettsville
• Springfield
• County Center
• Harrisonburg
• Rockwood
• Dayton
• North Springfield
• Groveton
• Winchester
• Potomac Mills
• Staunton

D+

• Deerfield
• Flint Hill
• Vansant
• Metompkin
• Allisonia
• Palmyra
• Cumberland
• Carrsville
• Clinchco

D

• Max Meadows

D-

• Gasburg
• Pungoteague
• Keokee
• Lunenburg
• Middlebrook
• Ivanhoe
• Bayside
• Makemie Park
• Modest Town
• Clover

See more than 500 Virginia towns and neighborhoods and their letter grades on Niche.com.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Image via Maria Jose Ovalle/Visit Alexandria

Patch Editor Tom Davis contributed to this story.