Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town was settled in 1852 and has 18,196 residents today.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Its best grade is for incomes: the median household earns $174K. It also does well on health — it is healthier than 91% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $751K, 5.9 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Overall, that makes an A−, better than just over three quarters of U.S. towns. The ranking puts it 109th of 249 in Virginia. Gainesville is home to Ascent College. The town’s concentration of trails is 1.6 miles per square mile, where Virginia’s towns sit at 0.7 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · OpenStreetMap.
Where Gainesville beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Gainesville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 11.1% |
11,481 counted in 2010 and 18,112 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Gainesville is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 13%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 6 maps from 1933 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Gainesville is unincorporated, so Prince William County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Gainesville.
Gainesville trades workers with Chantilly and other neighbors, has less tooth loss than most of Virginia and has household incomes well above the Virginia norm.
The median property tax bill is $6,520, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Gainesville home is worth about $751,000, up 1.8% in a year, 82% above the Virginia typical home. The median rent for Gainesville comes to $2,283 a month. Among households locally, 84% live in a home they own.
| Gainesville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,283 a month | $1,760 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 84% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Prince William County Public Schools. Three of its 8 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. 4 public schools serve Gainesville, with 3,591 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,403 | B+ |
| Gainesville HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,648 | – |
| Buckland Mills ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 735 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
The biggest place to walk is Leopold's Preserve, 339 acres with 6.9 miles of trail. 17 miles of trail wind through 2 parks and preserves.
| Gainesville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.6 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.8% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Leopold's Preserve | 6.9 mi | 339 |
| 2. Elizabeth Nickens Park Site | — | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Virginia is tooth loss: 6.9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 11.1% statewide. Against the 1,544 U.S. towns with household incomes like Gainesville’s, it is less healthy than 64%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
For adults in Gainesville, the share who have diabetes is 9.7%. In Gainesville, 14% of adults say their health is fair or poor, and 15% report frequent mental distress.
| Gainesville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Gainesville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 11.1% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Gainesville’s risk rating from FEMA stands at 17 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 62% come from inland flooding and 9% from heat waves. Since 1998, Gainesville has seen 2 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect July afternoons of 87° and January nights of 25°, with about 20 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Gainesville has about as many jobs (9,526) as working residents, but only 472 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 34.5 minutes, against 27.3 across Virginia.
In Gainesville, a quarter of workers work from home. Just 5% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Also worth knowing: jobs based in Gainesville grew to 9,526 in 2023, 3,154 more than in 2013. Its mean commuting time comes in at 35 minutes.
| Gainesville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $174,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 25% | 17% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 4% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gainesville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw33 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw31 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw32 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw34 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
13 mi MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center1.6M visitors a yearWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Gainesville
About 7 of every 100 Gainesville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Gainesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 17,287 in the 2020 census. Gainesville is home to Jiffy Lube Live, an outdoor amphitheater originally known as the Nissan Pavilion.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Gainesville.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | #109 | A− | D | — | B | A |
| Linton Hall | #94 | A− | C− | — | B | A |
| Haymarket | — | — | C | — | B | A |
Haymarket has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Gainesville, Linton Hall and Haymarket report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Gainesville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Gainesville grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #109 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including John Carter and Brandon Williamson.
