Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Culpeper gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $456K, 3.6 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. It grades B overall, 162nd among Virginia's 249 graded towns. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Croftburn Farm and Culpeper National Cemetery. 22% of working residents work locally in Culpeper, above both the Virginia town median (4.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The biggest park or preserve is Yowell Meadow Park, at 48 acres.
Where Culpeper beats most towns.
A. P. Hill Boyhood Home
Census counts: 1,056 in 1860, 20,062 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 3 maps from 1968 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Culpeper is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Culpeper, 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 Culpeper.
Culpeper trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Virginia (mostly inland flooding).
| Culpeper | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Yowell Meadow Park | 0.5 mi | 48 |
| 2. Rockwater Park | 0.1 mi | 31 |
| 3. Kestner Wayside Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Culpeper County Public Schools. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floyd T. Binns MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 825 | C |
| Keys Academy - Culpeper PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 1–12 | Grades 1–12 | 26 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Culpeper has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 25° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 5 of Culpeper’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Culpeper is 32 minutes. The top destinations are Warrenton (5%), Washington (3%) and Manassas (2%).
| Culpeper | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 10% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $31 per resident a year; that rating is what its B− for hazard risk is built on.
Culpeper’s FEMA risk score is 62 of 100. Since 2011, 8 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Culpeper.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes are within reach (about $456K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 32 miles.
59% of Culpeper households own their home. The typical Culpeper home is worth about $456,000, up 3.7% in a year, 11% above the Virginia typical home.
| Culpeper | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,416 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Virginia, it does better than 65% of towns.
| Culpeper | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.8 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,349 U.S. towns with household incomes like Culpeper’s, it is less healthy than 66%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Culpeper beats the Virginia average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 39% of adults have obesity in Culpeper.
| Culpeper | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 36% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 77% | 79% | 79% |
| What stands out | Culpeper | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.6% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.3% | 6.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.4% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Culpeper
About 7 of every 100 Culpeper residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
16,379 counted in 2010 and 20,062 in 2020; an estimated 22,074 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 9.9% since 2020, after 22.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
12 places in Culpeper on the National Register of Historic Places.
22 notable people were born in Culpeper.
Town in Virginia, United States
Culpeper (formerly Culpeper Courthouse, earlier Fairfax) is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat and part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. At the 2020 United States Census, the population was 20,062, an increase from 16,379 in 2010. Culpeper is located along U.S. Route 15, U.S. Route 29, and U.S. Route 522, and is served by intercity passenger rail at Culpeper station and by local and regional bus services operated by Virginia Regional Transit and the Virginia Breeze network. The town was laid out in 1749 by a young George Washington while working as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax, and formally established in 1759 by the …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Culpeper grades B overall, better than 57% of U.S. towns and #162 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B− for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools.
Within Virginia, it does better than 65% of towns.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
22 notable people were born here, including Ambrose Powell Hill and Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur.
