Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 38,683, settled in 1928. Public schools that outperform most of Virginia.
Mechanicsville's standout: its schools outperform 97% of the state's. Overall it grades A, 61st of 249 graded towns in Virginia. The median household earns $99K and natural-hazard risk is low. Mechanicsville has 9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Edmund Ruffin Plantation and Cold Harbor National Cemetery. Mechanicsville’s July high is 89°F, where Virginia’s towns sit at 88°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. The biggest place to walk is Richmond National Battlefield Park, 453 acres with 1.1 miles of trail.
Where Mechanicsville beats most towns.
Census counts: 5,189 in 1970, 39,482 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1801 and 7 maps from 1894 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Mechanicsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mechanicsville. Close and well known come first.
15 mi Theme parkKings Dominion
9 mi LandmarkHollywood Cemetery
8 mi LandmarkRobert E. Lee Monument
7 mi MuseumWhite House of the Confederacy
7 mi Stadium & arenaRichmond Coliseum
8 mi MuseumVirginia Museum of Fine Arts411K visitors a yearKings Dominion: Erechtheus, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hollywood Cemetery: Andrew Bain, Public domain · Robert E. Lee Monument: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White House of the Confederacy: AlbertHerring, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Richmond Coliseum: Mentes at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mechanicsville is unincorporated, so Hanover 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 Mechanicsville.
Mechanicsville has schools in the top 5% of Virginia and trades workers with Richmond and other neighbors.
Its A+ ranks #4 of the 250 Virginia towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Hanover County Public Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Creek MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 903 | A− |
| Mechanicsville HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,245 | A |
| Rural Point ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 627 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities. Since 2004, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mechanicsville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Mechanicsville beats the Virginia average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 33% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Mechanicsville.
| Mechanicsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 36% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Mechanicsville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 13.1% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.6% | 7.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Mechanicsville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 28° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Mechanicsville has about as many jobs (20,393) as working residents, but only 2,178 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Mechanicsville for work: only 11% work in town. Since 2013, Mechanicsville has added 4,560 jobs, to 20,393 in 2023. 5.2% of Mechanicsville residents live below the poverty line.
| Mechanicsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 18% | 17% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.2% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Virginia average. 36% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 42% across Virginia.
| Mechanicsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 44% | 29% |
| Median age | 41.8 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 23% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 44.3, men 39.5.
| Mechanicsville | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.4% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.1% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.7% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.9% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.9% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.7% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.6% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.7% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.1% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
4.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Mechanicsville’s trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Mechanicsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.9% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Richmond National Battlefield Park | 1.1 mi | 453 |
| 2. Mechanicsville Little League | 0.1 mi | 28 |
| 3. Hanover Ruritan Park | — | 16 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Mechanicsville home is worth about $442,000, up 3% in a year, 7% above the Virginia typical home. The median rent in Mechanicsville is $1,724 a month.
| Mechanicsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,724 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Mechanicsville
About 4 of every 100 Mechanicsville residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
9 places in Mechanicsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Mechanicsville.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Mechanicsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. The population was 39,482 during the 2020 census, up from 36,348 in the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Mechanicsville.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanicsville | #61 | A | C | — | A+ | B+ |
| East Highland Park | #192 | C+ | B− | — | C+ | C |
| Chamberlayne | #147 | B | B | — | C+ | B+ |
Mechanicsville, East Highland Park and Chamberlayne report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Mechanicsville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Mechanicsville grades A overall, better than 90% of U.S. towns and #61 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B+ for health and A+ for schools.
That is 5.1 years of the area's median household income ($86,679 across the Richmond, VA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
12 notable people were born here, including Jason Mraz and Kevin Grubb.
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