Manchester

Chesterfield County12,445 residentsChesterfield County Public Schools
65
C+
Suburbgrade score

9th of 20 Richmond suburbs. Strong on cost of living and schools, held back by housing & affordability.

Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Manchester yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 65 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →

What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.

What Manchester is like to live in, by category

Bars show Manchester against Richmond. Weights are published in full.

Housing & affordability

18% of the score · 47/100
D
Median home value$317,000
Richmond $353,500
Median rent$1,558/mo
Richmond $1,447/mo
Cost-burdened households33%
Richmond 30%

Schools

18% of the score · 75/100
B
Within-state proficiency—
percentile among districts in the same state
Student–teacher ratio12.5
Richmond median 14.2
Graduation rate88%
Richmond median 87%

Cost of living

14% of the score · 78/100
B+
Housing cost index94
Richmond 100
Eff. tax rate0.91%
Richmond 0.72%
Local sales tax5.77%
Richmond median 5.77%
Composed in-house · ACS 2020–24 · ACS 2020–24 · Tax Foundation state average, January 1, 2026Full page →

Commute & transport

14% of the score · 73/100
B
Mean commute21.9 min
Richmond 25.4 min
Under 30 minutes73%
Richmond 65%
Transit stops / sq mi0.3
Richmond median 0.1 · within 2 miles

Amenities

12% of the score · 63/100
C+
Restaurants & cafés55
Richmond median 53 · within 2 miles
Groceries5
Richmond median 5 · within 2 miles
Parks14
Richmond median 17 · within 2 miles

Employment & income

12% of the score · 55/100
C−
Median household income$80,296
Richmond $86,679
Unemployment6.4%
Richmond 4.5%
Professional occupations52%
Richmond 47%

Residents

12% of the score · inactive
—

No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.

Ask the people who live here

Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.

0 responses·Residents category: waiting for first responses·Live

Nobody has answered for Manchester yet. If you live here, you can be the first.

Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →

Better than Manchester on housing & affordability

Manchester's weakest grade is D. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.

Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24

Common questions about living in Manchester

Is Manchester, VA a good place to live?

Manchester scores 65 out of 100, 9th of 20 Richmond suburbs. It is strongest on cost of living and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.

Is Manchester expensive to live in?

Cost of living grades B+. The median home is $317,000, 10% below the Richmond median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.91%. $1,558/mo is the median gross rent.

How good are the schools in Manchester?

Schools grade B. The districts serving Manchester sit at the — within-state proficiency percentile, with a 88% graduation rate and a 12.5 student–teacher ratio. Manchester is served by Chesterfield County Public Schools. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.

How long is the commute from Manchester?

The mean commute is 21.9 min, with 73% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 21% working from home. Transit density is 0.3 stops per square mile.

Can you walk anywhere in Manchester?

Within two miles there are 5 groceries, 55 restaurants and cafés and 14 parks, which grades C+ on amenities.

Are the homes in Manchester old or new?

The median home in Manchester was built in 1983 — close to the Richmond median of 1984. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 63% of homes are houses rather than flats.

Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.