Lake WildernessVA
In Virginia, this town has 3,139 residents.
Is Lake Wilderness a good place to live?
Good on most counts; one lags. On cost of living it is strong — a typical home costs about $353K, 2.8 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Add incomes to its strengths (B+): the median household earns $121K. What counts against it is walkability (C−). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. The overall grade lands at A−, better than 83% of U.S. towns. That places it 92nd of 249 in Virginia. Lake Wilderness has 1 place on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
What makes Lake Wilderness stand out
Where Lake Wilderness beats most towns.
Lake Wilderness has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
2,669 counted in 2010 and 2,960 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Lake Wilderness grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Lake Wilderness is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Lake Wilderness: who provides what
Lake Wilderness is unincorporated, so Spotsylvania 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Wilderness.
Lake Wilderness has homes that are cheap against local pay, sends most of its workers to Fredericksburg and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes.
Top of a very low hazard risk in Lake Wilderness: inland flooding
For Lake Wilderness, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 7 of 100. 44% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by heat waves at 13%. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Lake Wilderness, 13.1% of the land is conserved
2.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, at 167 acres with 2.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Lake Wilderness’ trail density stands at 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park | 2.2 mi | 167 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with most of Virginia and the rest of the country, fewer of Lake Wilderness’ residents live below the poverty line
Lake Wilderness has 23 jobs for its 1,336 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 37.7 minutes, against 27.3 across Virginia.
Lake Wilderness’ typical journey to work comes in at 38 minutes. In Lake Wilderness, 0.4% of working residents work locally, below both the Virginia town median (5%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The top destinations are Fredericksburg (11%), Washington (2%) and Culpeper (2%). Half of commuters travel less than 20 miles.
| Lake Wilderness | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 38 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1.5% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $121,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.4% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lake Wilderness has four seasons and pleasant summers
In Lake Wilderness, the midsummer high is 88°F, close to Virginia’s towns (88°F) and above U.S. towns (85°F).
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lake Wilderness ranks healthier than 63% of the country’s towns
Against the 5,647 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Wilderness’s, it is less healthy than 75%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Lake Wilderness: a quarter of adults have been diagnosed with depression. Against the Virginia average, Lake Wilderness comes out ahead on 7 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. Two figures for adults locally: 40% have obesity, 76% had a checkup this year. Only 7 of the 253 Virginia towns we compare have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Lake Wilderness.
| Lake Wilderness | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 76% | 79% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Lake Wilderness | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.6% | 11.1% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.7% | 6.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 71.6% | 76.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Lake Wilderness sell for about $425K
At 2.8 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 96% of Virginia towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
Homes sold in Lake Wilderness spent a median 48 days on the market. The share of households in Lake Wilderness who own their home: 93%. In Lake Wilderness, the typical rent is $1,859 a month.
| Lake Wilderness | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,859 a month | $1,760 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
George Washington Birthplace National Monument and 18 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Wilderness. Close and well known come first.
15 mi National MonumentGeorge Washington Birthplace National Monument72K visitors a year
34 mi National ParkShenandoah National Park1.7M visitors a year
36 mi Theme parkKings Dominion
in town National Military ParkFredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park766K visitors a year
27 mi MuseumNational Museum of the Marine Corps
27 mi Ancient siteMallows BayPhoto credits
George Washington Birthplace National Monument: National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain · Shenandoah National Park: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kings Dominion: Erechtheus, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park: RebelAt at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National Museum of the Marine Corps: RadioFan (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mallows Bay: Amazur, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Lake Wilderness
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Wilderness
About 5 of every 100 Lake Wilderness residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
100% of working residents leave Lake Wilderness for work
Where Lake Wilderness’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Lake Wilderness
Unincorporated census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Lake Wilderness is a census-designated place in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Lake Wilderness had a population of 2,960. It is flanked on three sides by the Wilderness Battlefield section of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.2 sq mi
Questions about Lake Wilderness
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Wilderness, VA a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Lake Wilderness grades A− overall, better than 83% of U.S. towns and #92 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Lake Wilderness, VA expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $353,000, 14% 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 A.