Annandale Ranked 4th Best Town in Virginia

Parks, Stable Housing Prices, and Diversity Take the Prize

According to city based research group, Movoto, Centreville is the top city in Virginia, while Annandale is the 4th best city, based on many desirable factors such as amenities, cost of living, crime, education, median household income, and diversity.



The rankings came out like this.

1.  Centreville
2.  Tysons Corner
3.  McLean
4.  Annandale
5.  Oakton
6.  Alexandria
7.  Chantilly
8.  Reston
9.  Rose Hill (Fairfax County)
10. Suffolk

The Criteria
Virginia is well known as one of the most beautiful states in the country, it has a rich history, and classic Virginia charm! But, in order to find the top 10, something a little bit more concrete was needed. The list was created with seven criteria in mind.


  • Amenities per person (distance to five-star hiking, number of Southern food restaurants)
  • Total amenities in each city (distance to five-star hiking, number of Southern food restaurants)
  • Cost of living (percent above or below state average)
  • Crime (percent above or below state average)
  • High school degree attainment rate (percent above or below state average)
  • Median household income (city’s average compared to state average)
  • Home value (percent above or below state average)
  • Diversity (percent of most populous ethnicity)
    To start, a list of the 50 most populous cities, towns, and Census Designated Places in Virginia were examined, then each city was given a rank from one to 50 in the individual criteria based on the above data, with one being the best possible score.


As far as amenities go, distance to great hiking, was selected because Virginia has some of the best hiking in the country. We chose Southern food, because Virginia is the quintessence of Southern charm—and a big part of that happens to be boiled and roasted peanuts, Virginia ham, and Shoofly pie. (Movoto needs to work on this criteria. The cuisine of 21st Century Virginia has moved far past the food mentioned.)


From there, this category was broken up into both amenities per person and the total number of amenities per city, because it was important to have a range of choices for each person, and not dock points just because some cities have larger populations.


After each city was rated, the criteria was averaged together with each city receiving an overall score. The lower this number was, the higher the city ranked.

Yet again, Fairfax County brings it home with eight of the top ten cities and Annandale, scoring the No. 4 spot on the list. Annandale came in as the most diverse city in our top 10, with just 57.18 percent of the population being one ethnicity (as opposed to McLean, for example, which is 79.3 percent Caucasian.) It also scored really well in its median home value—95 percent higher than the state average.


Outside of the numbers though, Annandale is the perfect place to, literally, get outside. Parks like the Mason District Park, the Annandale Community Park, Kendale Woods Park, Ossian Hall Park, and over 20 more, are scattered throughout the area.


HOUSEHOLD INCOME


Fairfax County   $176,084


Annandale         $145,026

Virginia            $120,553


MEDIAN HOME VALUE
Fairfax County               
Y2024    $825,000

Annandale                                       
Y2024  $767,500


Occupied Annandale Housing Units   
96.600%


EDUCATION

Completed High School               
89.70%

Associate’s degree               
54.30%

Bachelor degree
49.20%

Graduate degree                                 
21.30%


RESIDENTIAL DEMOGRAPHICS
Total Population                                 
74,135


Greater Annandale (5 mile radius)   
342,076


Caucasian                                                     
57.16%                                                 
African American                                                   
7.57%                                                   
Native American                                 
0.27%                                                   
Asian American
19.84%                 
Hispanic/Latino of any Race                                 
27.43%


*Includes Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Thai, & Vietnamese. The Korean & Vietnamese populations are approximately the same at slightly less than 8%Photo: Toll House Park - Pink Knock-Out Roses, the Flower of Annansdale, is courtesy of the Annandale Chamber of Commerce Photographic files with All Rights Reserved.


Fairfax County Ranked Third in Nation

Annandale Chamber of Commerce

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