Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Gordonsville’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and walkability and an A for history; the weakest is a C for incomes. Gordonsville’s median rent is $941 a month, against $1,762 a month in Virginia’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Only 15 of Virginia’s 371 towns score higher on history. Gordonsville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Gordonsville beats most towns.
Exchange Hotel
Census counts: 919 in 1880, a low of 462 in 1930, 1,402 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 2 maps from 1961 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 Gordonsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Gordonsville, 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 Gordonsville.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 84% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Orange County Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon-Barbour ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 326 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Gordonsville beats the Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 41% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Gordonsville, above both the Virginia town median (36%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%). 40% of Gordonsville adults have high blood pressure.
| Gordonsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 34% | 35% |
| What stands out | Gordonsville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18% | 11.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.1% | 6.2% |
| More smokers | 15% | 12.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Gordonsville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, 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 Gordonsville for work: only 5% work in town. The median household income in Gordonsville is $62,000. Since 2013, Gordonsville has added 97 jobs, to 583 in 2023.
| Gordonsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $62,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9.8% | 17% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Gordonsville home is worth about $408,000, up 2.2% in a year, close to the Virginia typical home. 61% of households own their home in Gordonsville.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1.0 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Gordonsville’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Gordonsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Verling Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Gordonsville. Close and well known come first.
22 mi National ParkShenandoah National Park1.7M visitors a year
37 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
19 mi Stadium & arenaScott Stadium32 mi Scenic driveSkyline Drive
40 mi CaveLuray Caverns
18 mi Stadium & arenaJohn Paul Jones ArenaShenandoah National Park: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Scott Stadium: Mak7912, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Skyline Drive: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Luray Caverns: Paulo Ordoveza from Washington, DC, CC BY 2.0 · John Paul Jones Arena: Bob Mical, CC BY 2.0
None within 15 miles of Gordonsville; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Gordonsville residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
3 places in Gordonsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Gordonsville.
Town in Virginia, United States
Gordonsville is a town in Orange County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. Located approximately 19 miles northeast of Charlottesville and 65 miles northwest of Richmond, the population was 1,402 at the 2020 census. The town celebrated its bicentennial in 2013, two hundred years after local innkeeper Nathaniel Gordon was appointed the area's first postmaster, thus officially creating the area known as Gordonsville. It was strategically important during the Civil War, due to its location on the Virginia Central Railroad. Gordonsville claims to have influenced the popularity of fried chicken in the United States; it bills itself as the "Fried Chicken Capital of the World."
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
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−.
4 notable people were born here, including J. W. Flanagan and Philip Pendleton Barbour.
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