Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,309, settled in 1848. 58% more nonprofits per person than the typical Virginia town.
Trash day: look up yoursChincoteague earns a D, 226th among Virginia's 249 graded towns, mostly because of incomes. The median household income is $63K, and 10% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: 32% of its land is conserved. 32% of the land in Chincoteague is conserved, against 4.6% in Virginia’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. No town in Virginia scores lower than Chincoteague on hazard risk. Chincoteague's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Where Chincoteague beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 1,419 in 1910, a low of 1,418 in 1920, 3,344 in 2020. The archive holds 25 old photos and papers going back to 1877 and 4 maps from 1943 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Chincoteague is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chincoteague. Close and well known come first.
in town National SeashoreAssateague Island National Seashore2.3M visitors a year32 mi Theme parkJolly Roger Amusement Park
30 mi Theme parkTrimper's Rides
6 mi MuseumNASA Visitor Center31 mi Zoo & aquariumSalisbury Zoo
20 mi MuseumEastern Shore Railway MuseumAssateague Island National Seashore: Fritz Geller-Grimm, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Trimper's Rides: Mttbme, CC BY-SA 3.0 · NASA Visitor Center: Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eastern Shore Railway Museum: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chincoteague, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Chincoteague.
Chincoteague fares better on crime within Virginia than nationally, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Virginia (mostly coastal flooding) and is a long drive from an emergency room.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $3,395 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on. 114 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 17 properties have flooded more than once.
Chincoteague’s FEMA risk score is 99 of 100, above both the Virginia town median (22 of 100) and the median of U.S. towns (44 of 100). Since 1989, 114 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Chincoteague.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Accomack County Public Schools. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chincoteague ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 241 | C+ |
| Chincoteague HighLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 271 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Chincoteague’s median age is 57.4 years. People 65 and older are 38% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 12% of residents (23% statewide). 14% of residents are under 18 in Chincoteague.
| Chincoteague | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 57.4 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 14% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 44% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.5 points. Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Chincoteague | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.2% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.3% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.4% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.5% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 21.8% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 15.9% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.5% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.4% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.5% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.6% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.5% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.5% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,300, single groups can be off by several points
Its 7,566 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of Virginia towns.
4.3 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The trail density in Chincoteague is 0.1 miles per square mile. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, at 856 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge | 1 mi | 856 |
| 2. Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 5 |
| 3. Donald J. Leonard Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The average commute for its 1,598 working residents takes 16.7 minutes, against 27.3 across Virginia.
About one in 4 of Chincoteague’s working residents works in town. Only 9 of the 253 Virginia towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Chincoteague. The top destinations are Accomac (5%), Salisbury (3%) and Chesapeake (3%).
| Chincoteague | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Chincoteague has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 31° and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.2 years of the county’s $59K median household income, the typical home (about $367K) costs more against local pay than in 83% of Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Chincoteague home is worth about $367,000, about the same as a year ago, 11% below the Virginia typical home. 78% of Chincoteague households own their home.
| Chincoteague | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,081 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The nearest emergency room, Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, is 26.6 miles away in a straight line. Against the 9,578 U.S. towns with household incomes like Chincoteague’s, it is healthier than 69%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Chincoteague beats the Virginia average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. Among 253 Virginia towns, just 5 have a higher share of adults who had a checkup this year than Chincoteague.
| Chincoteague | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 33% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 11% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 36% | 36% |
| What stands out | Chincoteague | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.7% | 10.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.4% | 7.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.6% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 18.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 78% of Virginia’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Chincoteague; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Chincoteague residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Coastal flooding makes up 70% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
54% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
3 places in Chincoteague on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Chincoteague.
Town in Virginia, United States
Chincoteague ( or ) is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The town includes the whole of Chincoteague Island and an area of adjacent water. The population was 3,344 at the 2020 census. The town is a tourist gateway to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on adjacent Assateague Island, the location of a popular recreational beach and home of the Virginia herd of Chincoteague Ponies. These ponies and the annual Pony Swim are the subject of Marguerite Henry's 1947 children's book Misty of Chincoteague, which was made into the 1961 family film Misty, filmed on location.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Chincoteague grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #226 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B− for health, B− for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 6.2 years of the area's median household income ($58,993 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
4 notable people were born here, including Bill Hinnant and Skip Hinnant.
