Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Virginia.
Where it does best is schools (A): its public schools beat 92% of Virginia towns on state tests and graduation. Incomes are a strength too (B+): the median household earns $77K. The drawback is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $244K, 3.6 years of the Roanoke metro’s $69K median household income. Put together, the subjects come to a B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns. It ranks 131st of 249 in Virginia. Hollins is home to Hollins University. The town has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hollins College Quadrangle and Old Tombstone. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or older here, above both the Virginia town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%).
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Hollins beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Burlington Elementary | PK–5 | 530 |
| Mountain View Elementary | PK–5 | 377 |
| Community School | PK–8 | 162 |
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Hollins University | 722 |
Hollins College QuadrangleEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Hollins is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1842 and 5 maps from 1929 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hollins. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi Park & preserveAppalachian Trail3.0M visitors a year
5 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
27 mi Stadium & arenaLane Stadium
36 mi LandmarkProject Greek Island
32 mi LakeMountain Lake
31 mi LakeSmith Mountain LakeAppalachian Trail: Paulba. Original uploader was Paulbalegend at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lane Stadium: User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Project Greek Island: Z22, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mountain Lake: Rolfmueller, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Smith Mountain Lake: Jay White, Public domain
Hollins is unincorporated, so Botetourt 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 Hollins.
Hollins has schools in the top 5% of Virginia and has commutes shorter than most of Virginia.
That grade ranks #13 of the 250 Virginia towns we grade for schools.
Public schools: the Roanoke County Public Schools. Of its 6 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The 2 public schools in Hollins teach 907 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 530 | C |
| Roanoke Valley Christian Schools PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 478 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Expect July afternoons of 87° and January nights of 27°, with about 15 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 6,784 working residents takes 20.6 minutes, against 27.3 across Virginia.
In Hollins, the mean commuting time is 21 minutes. Only a tenth of working residents stay in Hollins for work; the rest commute out. This Virginia town had 10,040 jobs in 2023, up 974 from 2013. The top destinations are Roanoke (34%), Salem (10%) and Cave Spring (4%).
| Hollins | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 19% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $77,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 4.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Compared with just over three fifths of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Hollins is lower. Since 1978, Hollins has seen 79 flood insurance claims paid out. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 78% come from inland flooding and 7% from strong winds.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Walrond Park, at 49 acres with 1.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Trails total 2.5 miles in 2 parks and preserves. The trail network density for Hollins comes to 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Hollins | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.2% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walrond Park | 1.2 mi | 49 |
| 2. Hollins Park | 0.3 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
34% of Hollins adults sleep under 7 hours. CDC measures, 32 in all: Hollins beats Virginia on 1 and trails on 6. In Hollins, 38% of adults have high blood pressure, and 25% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Hollins | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hollins | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.2% | 76.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 8% | 6.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On the market in Hollins: a median 20 days to sell. Among households locally, 65% are owner-occupiers. Also worth knowing: in Hollins, the median rent is $1,193 a month.
| Hollins | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,193 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Hollins
About 7 of every 100 Hollins residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
3 places in Hollins on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Hollins is a census-designated place (CDP) in Botetourt and Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. Hollins covers much of the area known locally as "North County". The population was 15,574 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Roanoke metropolitan area. The area is also the home of Hollins University in addition to four properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Black Horse Tavern-Bellvue Hotel and Office, Harshbarger House, the Hollins College Quadrangle, and Old Tombstone.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Hollins.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollins | #131 | B+ | C+ | — | A | B− |
| Roanoke | #237 | D | B− | D | C− | C− |
| Cloverdale | #74 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
Hollins and Cloverdale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Hollins with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Hollins grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #131 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B− for health and A for schools.
The typical home is worth about $244,000, 41% below the Virginia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
