Virginia Beach

Best Virginia Beach suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

Updated Sep 2026·11 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
The Governor's Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia, 2pm on September 20, 2012, using a Nikon D80.
Williamsburg$428k median · 19.5 min commute
Schools B−Cost of living A−Residents inactive
72
Schools score
overall 66 C+
2
Hampton Downtown Historic District
Hampton$246k median · 22.5 min commute
Schools C+Cost of living BResidents inactive
66
Schools score
overall 55 C−
3
A view of North Main Street in downtown Suffolk, Virginia
Suffolk$347k median · 30.2 min commute
Schools C+Cost of living B−Residents inactive
65
Schools score
overall 51 D+
4
Virginia Beach, VA, May 2021
Virginia Beach$383k median · 23.4 min commute
Schools C+Cost of living B−Residents inactive
65
Schools score
overall 64 C+
5
A view of the Victory Arch in Newport News, Virginia
Newport News$261k median · 23.1 min commute
Schools CCost of living B+Residents inactive
62
Schools score
overall 55 C−
6
A sailboat on the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.
Chesapeake$378k median · 25.8 min commute
Schools CCost of living B−Residents inactive
59
Schools score
overall 52 D+
7
Campus of the Virginia Marine Institute of Science in Gloucester Point, VA
Gloucester Point$321k median · 35.4 min commute
Schools CCost of living A−Residents inactive
59
Schools score
overall 50 D+
8
Portsmouth, Va. (Aug. 20, 2003) -- Tug boats guide USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) up the Elizabeth River, past Portsmouth landmarks, to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth$247k median · 23.7 min commute
Schools CCost of living BResidents inactive
58
Schools score
overall 51 D+
9
The Wisconsin Battleship in Norfolk, VA
Norfolk$290k median · 23.0 min commute
Schools CCost of living B+Residents inactive
58
Schools score
overall 58 C
10
Elizabeth City, NC
Elizabeth City$188k median · 26.4 min commute
Schools FCost of living B+Residents inactive
32
Schools score
overall 44 D
This list's weighting
Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other Virginia Beach lists
Best Virginia Beach suburbs for familiesMost affordable Virginia Beach suburbsShortest commutes to Downtown Virginia BeachMost walkable Virginia Beach suburbsBest Virginia Beach suburbs for young professionalsHow we score Virginia Beach suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Williamsburg (Ron Cogswell · CC BY 2.0); Hampton (Pejcharat · CC BY-SA 4.0); Suffolk (User: Kubigula · CC BY-SA 3.0); Virginia Beach (DanRVA · CC BY-SA 4.0); Newport News (Smash the Iron Cage · CC BY-SA 4.0); Chesapeake (US Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified · Public domain); Gloucester Point (Carmenshields · CC BY 3.0); Portsmouth (U.S. Navy photo · Public domain); Norfolk (Bruce Emmerling · CC BY-SA 4.0); Elizabeth City (Wikimedia Commons · Public domain).