Goochland.

Space

85 people to the square mile.

Of the 12 Richmond areas we hold both figures for, only 3 are more open — Goochland ranks 4th least crowded. If room is what you are buying, this end of the market is where it is.

Scale

24,727 people, as of 2020.

The 5th smallest of the 12 Richmond areas we hold a count for. Fewer houses change hands here in a year, and that cuts both ways — less to choose from, less to compete with.

The line that matters

Goochland, seated at Goochland.

In Virginia the county sets the rate, runs the school division and maintains the roads — and the lines do not follow the place names, so two houses a mile apart can sit under different rates and different schools.

The thing to check first

Public water and sewer reach two areas only.

The Courthouse area and the eastern Tuckahoe Creek service district. Everywhere else is on well and septic, and the plan sets most village density at a third to a half a unit per acre for exactly that reason. It shapes what you can build and what you are buying.

The rate, and the asterisk

$0.53 per $100 — unchanged since 2008.

The lowest in this market by a wide margin. But the Tuckahoe Creek Service District adds an ad valorem levy of $0.32 per $100 on top, which lands on the eastern end where most of the newer housing is. Check which side of that line an address sits.

Two counties in one

East of 288 and west of it.

The eastern end is office park, new subdivision and Henrico's overflow. West of the Courthouse it is farmland, river frontage and a craft beverage trail with ten-odd breweries, cideries and wineries on it.