Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,836, settled in 1839.
Hillsville gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $196K, 3.6 years of the county’s $54K median household income. It grades B overall, ranked 149th of 249 in Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $58K, and 22% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 77% of Virginia towns. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Hillsville, against 7.7% in Virginia’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Hillsville has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Carroll County Courthouse and Hillsville Historic District. Among 253 Virginia towns, just 5 have a lower July high than Hillsville.
Where Hillsville beats most towns.
Census counts: 181 in 1850, 2,884 in 2020. The archive holds 29 old photos and papers going back to 1912 and 3 maps from 1956 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 Hillsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hillsville. Close and well known come first.
7 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
36 mi Stadium & arenaLane Stadium
33 mi MountainPilot Mountain
37 mi State parkHanging Rock State Park
15 mi MuseumBlue Ridge Music Center
27 mi MuseumGlencoe MuseumBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lane Stadium: User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pilot Mountain: Berean Hunter, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Hanging Rock State Park: Jacalyn Engler from Greensboro, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Blue Ridge Music Center: RMLark, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Glencoe Museum: Skye Marthaler, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hillsville, 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 Hillsville.
Hillsville pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, fares better on crime within Virginia than nationally and draws workers from Galax and beyond.
2,459 jobs are based in Hillsville, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Hillsville for work: only 19% work in town. Since 2013, Hillsville has lost 420 jobs, to 2,459 in 2023. The top destinations are Galax (12%), Wytheville (4%) and Radford (2%).
| Hillsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 19% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A− for schools comes with an A− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $196K.
Its public schools are run by the Carroll County Public Schools. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carroll County MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 747 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 96% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $857, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Hillsville’s median rent is $747 a month. Typical home values rose 6.4% in the year to September 2026. 53% of households own their home in Hillsville.
| Hillsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $747 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 53% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17% of Hillsville adults report frequent physical distress. Hillsville beats the Virginia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 41% of Hillsville adults have high blood pressure.
| Hillsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 22% | 23% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Hillsville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.2% | 76.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
| Hillsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.8% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Galax Radio Wbrf weather station, 12 miles away, records that about 3 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 95% of U.S. towns. January nights average 24.5°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 78% of Virginia places with climate records; July afternoons average 81.9°.
Hillsville has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. About 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 15.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 83% of Virginia’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Hillsville is 1.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Hillsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.1 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Hillsville; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Hillsville residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Hillsville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Hillsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Virginia, United States
Hillsville is a town in Carroll County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,897 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Hillsville.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsville | #149 | B | A− | B | A− | C− |
| Woodlawn | — | — | A+ | — | A− | C− |
Woodlawn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Woodlawn reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Hillsville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hillsville grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #149 of 249 in Virginia. It grades C− for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Elizabeth Fry Page and M. Price Webb.
