Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Lexington earns an A+, 1st of 249 graded towns in Virginia. Its public schools are among the best in Virginia, residents are healthier than 84% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and it reports less crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. Its lowest mark, a B, is in incomes. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 26 places on the National Register. Lexington’s average trip to work is 13 minutes, where Virginia’s towns sit at 27 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Lexington is among the most walkable places in the country. Its National Register listings include Washington and Lee University Historic District and Virginia Military Institute Historic District.
Where Lexington beats most towns.
Barracks, Virginia Military Institute| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary | PK–5 | 466 |
| Harrington Waddell Elementary | PK–5 | 350 |
| Woods Creek Montessori | PK–K | 47 |
Barracks, Virginia Military Institute is one of 4 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,743 in 1850, 7,320 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1848 and 5 maps from 1937 on.
21 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Lexington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lexington. Close and well known come first.
8 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
36 mi National ParkShenandoah National Park1.7M visitors a year
32 mi LandmarkNational D-Day Memorial
32 mi MuseumFrontier Culture Museum of Virginia29 mi Ski areaWintergreen Ski Resort21 runs · 990 ft vertical28 mi MuseumMaier Museum of Art at Randolph CollegeBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Shenandoah National Park: Image copyright 2005 by user G. Edward Johnson (user Lorax) and released under t, CC BY-SA 3.0 · National D-Day Memorial: RebelAt at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia: Woody Hibbard from Texas, USA, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lexington, 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 Lexington.
Lexington pairs an A+ overall with homes cheaper than the Virginia norm, pairs an A+ for schools with modest home prices and is shaped by its college students.
46.4% of residents are enrolled in college, against 6.9% statewide, which pulls the median age down.
7.3% of residents are under 18 in Lexington. Lexington has grown 6.3% since 2020, to 7,769 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Lexington’s median age is 22.6 years.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 7.3% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 22.6 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 51% | 44% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 16% | 18% |
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.6 points. Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 66% are men (VA 51%).
| Lexington | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 4.8% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 2.5% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 48% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.5% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 4.1% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 7.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.9% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.7% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 9.5% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.2% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.6% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 30.1% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Its A+ for schools comes with a B+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $365K. Its A+ ranks #1 of the 250 Virginia towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Rockbridge County Public Schools. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maury River MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 481 | C |
| Harrington Waddell ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 350 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests
5,537 jobs are based in Lexington, 2.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 12.7 minutes, against 27.3 across Virginia.
44% of Lexington working residents work locally. Since 2013, Lexington has added 1,804 jobs, to 5,537 in 2023. 14% of Lexington residents live below the poverty line.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 44% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 15% | 18% | 11% |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
3.3 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lexington is 1.3 miles per square mile.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.3 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 8% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Woods Creek Park | 0.5 mi | 10 |
| 2. Jordan's Point | 0.3 mi | 10 |
| 3. M. Leroy Richardson Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Virginia is diabetes: 7.6% of its 6,489 adults have diabetes, against 12.5% statewide.
Lexington beats the Virginia average on 13 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. Among 253 Virginia towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Lexington.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.6% | 11% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 33% |
| What stands out | Lexington | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 7.6% | 12.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.3% | 3.3% |
| More binge drinkers | 18.4% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 9.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 94% of Virginia’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Only 6 of the 86 Virginia towns we compare have a lower property crime rate than Lexington.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.5 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Lexington has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 26° and about 14 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 29 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lexington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lexington grades A+ overall with a typical home of about $365K, below the Virginia typical value; only 8 of the 38 Virginia towns graded A− or better can say that.
The typical Lexington home is worth about $365,000, up 3.5% in a year, 12% below the Virginia typical home.
| Lexington | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,081 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Lexington
College town 46 of every 100 Lexington residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
2 colleges in town.
21 places in Lexington on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in Lexington.
Independent city in Virginia, United States
Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions, and is combined with it for statistical purposes by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Lexington is within the Shenandoah Valley about 57 miles (92 km) east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles (80 km) north of Roanoke, Virginia. First settled in 1778, Lexington is best known as the home of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lexington.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | #1 | A+ | B+ | A− | A+ | A− |
| East Lexington | — | — | B− | — | C+ | B |
East Lexington has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. East Lexington reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Lexington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Lexington grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #1 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A− for health, A− for safety and A+ for schools.
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 B+.
27 notable people were born here, including Pat Robertson and Cy Twombly.
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