Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Glasgow’s best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a D for incomes. Only 12 of Virginia’s 370 towns score higher on cost of living. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 16 of Virginia’s 372 towns do worse. Glasgow has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Natural Bridge and Glasgow Historic District. Glasgow's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 83% of U.S. towns. Glasgow has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Glasgow beats most towns.
Glasgow Historic DistrictIn a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Glasgow is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2005.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Glasgow. Close and well known come first.
5 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
39 mi National Historical ParkAppomattox Court House National Historical Park77K visitors a year
21 mi LandmarkNational D-Day Memorial
37 mi MuseumVirginia Museum of Transportation
36 mi MuseumTaubman Museum of Art
38 mi National MonumentBooker T. Washington National Monument22K visitors a yearBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Appomattox Court House National Historical Park: Doug Coldwell, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National D-Day Memorial: RebelAt at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Virginia Museum of Transportation: Warfieldian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Taubman Museum of Art: O Palsson, CC BY 2.0 · Booker T. Washington National Monument: National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glasgow, 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 Glasgow.
The typical Glasgow home is worth about $206,000, up 4% in a year, 50% below the Virginia typical home. Glasgow’s median rent is $764 a month, below both the Virginia town median ($1,762 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Glasgow | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $764 a month | $1,762 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Glasgow’s FEMA risk score is 76 of 100, where Virginia’s towns sit at 22 of 100 and U.S. towns at 44 of 100. Since 1985, 83 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Glasgow.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Glasgow beats the Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 16% of Glasgow adults report frequent physical distress.
| Glasgow | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 33% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 23% | 25% |
| What stands out | Glasgow | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.8% | 6.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 15.5% | 11.1% |
| More smokers | 16.3% | 12.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Glasgow has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 26° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Glasgow for work: only 10% work in town. The average trip to work in Glasgow is 35 minutes. Jobs based in Glasgow fell to 649 in 2023, 319 fewer than in 2013.
| Glasgow | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 35 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.5% | 4.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.8 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Knick Field | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Glasgow
About 6 of every 100 Glasgow residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
3 places in Glasgow on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Virginia, United States
Glasgow is a town in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the James and Maury Rivers. The population was 1,052 at the 2020 census. Glasgow has had issues with flooding, notably during Hurricane Camille in 1969. As a result of flooding concerns, the Balcony Falls Dam (just east of the confluence of the James and Maury rivers) was removed in 1973. From 2001 to 2007, the town was known for having at least a dozen fiberglass dinosaur figures along the roadside.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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 A.
