Richmond, the state capital · Photo: Bruce Emmerling · CC BY-SA 4.0How Virginia stacks up
In Virginia, town by town, 72% of residents live in one of the country’s lowest-risk towns (the top quarter), with almost none at the other end. Its overall score of 78 ranks 12th, an A−. It offers schools that rank 21st on the Nation’s Report Card and healthy residents (only 18% of adults in fair or poor health), but at the cost of 27.3-minute commutes.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
22nd of 51B58/100 Low crime statewide, less so in its towns. Many places report no crime of their own, so the town figures cover 55% of residents. At 210 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, Virginia sits 7th lowest among the states. Even its best town, Blacksburg, ranks #531 of 3,410 nationally.
Counting property crime too (property + 4 × violent, the weighting our town grades use): 15th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 38 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 55% of residents of Virginia’s 10,000+ towns.
Crime gathers in the larger cities
Its safest larger towns are Vienna (#765), Manassas Park (#799) and Warrenton (#855), ranked against every U.S. town of 10,000+. At the other end are Richmond, Norfolk and Newport News, in the quarter of U.S. towns reporting the most crime per resident. Its towns tell a different story from the state total: 35th of 48 town by town, 7th lowest statewide.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Virginia | 3% | 43% |
A big gap in the town figures
Each town’s figure is built from its own department’s FBI reports, so towns with gaps sit out rather than being estimated. Here the towns counted hold 55% of residents of towns of 10,000+. One town, Salem, has too few years reported and sits out. Arlington, Centreville and Dale City are among 88 places that report no crime of their own; county or state police patrol them, and their crimes aren’t counted by town. Among its neighbors, Washington, D.C. counts the most (100%) and Maryland the least (28%).
Schools
11th of 51A−80/100 Strong results in the classroom. On the Nation’s Report Card it ranks 21st highest, with 32% of students at Proficient or better. Falls Church leads its towns at #370 nationally; 17% of residents live in top-quarter towns.
On-time graduation, 88.8% (12th highest), weighs equally with test results in the grade.
It spends $17,169 per pupil, 21st highest (context only; spending isn’t graded).
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 126 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
29th of 51C+44/100 A bit expensive. At $2,790, the typical property-tax bill is the 25th highest among the states. 10% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 14% in a bottom-quarter one; Madison Heights ranks highest.
Home values run 4.1 times the median household income, 19th highest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 127 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
14th of 51B+74/100 Healthier than most states. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Tysons its best at #25 of 5,218. 18% of adults describe their health as fair or poor, against 19% nationally.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 127 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
24th of 51B−54/100 Owners and renters in typical measure. Virginia ranks 25th lowest for home ownership, at 67% of homes. 40% of residents live in bottom-quarter towns, among them Richmond and Arlington.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 127 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
6th of 51A90/100 Low risk with few exceptions. Virginia ranks 8th lowest for expected hazard damage: $91 a year per $100,000 of buildings. Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 72% of residents live in one. Inland flooding and hurricanes account for 87% of the expected damage.
Federal major-disaster declarations, 2015–2025: 10, 22nd fewest.
Share of expected building damage: inland flooding 74%, hurricane 13%, earthquake 5%.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 127 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
41st of 51C−20/100 Time to work runs long. Getting to work takes 27.3 minutes on average (10th longest). The longest trips start in places like Suffolk, in the national bottom quarter. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Blacksburg ranks highest, at #114.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 127 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
24th of 51B−54/100 Average growth. Census counts show the population up 7.9% from 2010 to 2020 (19th fastest). Few places anywhere beat Woodbridge, #3 of 5,079 towns for growth.
Builders took out permits for 4.0 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, 24th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 122 Virginia towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Virginia compares to its neighbors
Against Maryland, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, Virginia lands in the middle on every subject.
| Virginia | Maryland | North Carolina | Tennessee | Kentucky | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A− 7812th of 51 | B− 4628th of 51 | C+ 3633rd of 51 | B− 5026th of 51 | A− 8210th of 51 |
| Safety | B 587th official · 3% in top towns | C− 2434th official · 1% in top towns | C+ 4230th official · 5% in top towns | C 2847th official · 7% in top towns | A− 809th official · 10% in top towns |
| Schools | A− 8021st official · 17% in top towns | B 5820th official · 11% in top towns | C 3419th official · 2% in top towns | A 8615th official · 32% in top towns | A− 7829th official · 16% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C+ 4427th official · 10% in top towns | C+ 4039th official · 25% in top towns | B 5615th official · 8% in top towns | B+ 707th official · 14% in top towns | A 908th official · 33% in top towns |
| Health | B+ 7420th official · 32% in top towns | A− 7618th official · 29% in top towns | B 5830th official · 25% in top towns | C− 1644th official · 9% in top towns | D 1244th official · 3% in top towns |
| Housing | B− 5427th official · 14% in top towns | A− 8223rd official · 21% in top towns | C− 2233rd official · 5% in top towns | C 3231st official · 8% in top towns | C 3420th official · 4% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | A 908th official · 72% in top towns | A+ 982nd official · 98% in top towns | C+ 3634th official · 3% in top towns | B− 4622nd official · 6% in top towns | C+ 4039th official · 7% in top towns |
| Commute | C− 2042nd official · 13% in top towns | D− 250th official · 1% in top towns | C+ 4425th official · 23% in top towns | B− 4632nd official · 39% in top towns | B+ 6820th official · 40% in top towns |
| Growth | B− 5419th official · 19% in top towns | B 5623rd official · 27% in top towns | A− 8016th official · 59% in top towns | A− 7818th official · 57% in top towns | C 3234th official · 15% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work