Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rural Retreat’s best subject grades are an A for safety and schools and an A− for cost of living; its weakest is a D for incomes. 22% of residents live below the poverty line in Rural Retreat, where Virginia’s towns sit at 7.7% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. No town in Virginia scores higher than Rural Retreat on safety. Only 26 of Virginia’s 372 towns score lower on the outdoors. Rural Retreat has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery and Sharon Lutheran Church and Cemetery. Rural Retreat's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 84% of U.S. towns. Rural Retreat has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Rural Retreat beats most towns.
Where Rural Retreat’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Rural Retreat is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 286 in 1880, 1,546 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rural Retreat, 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 Rural Retreat.
Most working residents leave Rural Retreat for work: only 8% work in town. At $62,000, Rural Retreat’s median household income is against $102,000 in Virginia’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Since 2013, Rural Retreat has added 752 jobs, to 1,038 in 2023.
| Rural Retreat | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7.5% | 17% | 11% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Wythe County Public Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Rural Retreat High, with 300 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural Retreat MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 236 | A− |
| Rural Retreat HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 300 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Rural Retreat’s property crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents. Among 87 Virginia towns, just 8 have a lower violent crime rate than Rural Retreat.
| Rural Retreat | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Rural Retreat home is worth about $209,000, about the same as a year ago, 49% below the Virginia typical home. The median rent in Rural Retreat is $800 a month.
| Rural Retreat | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $800 a month | $1,762 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Among 254 Virginia towns, just 6 have a lower July high than Rural Retreat. Rural Retreat has chilly winters and pleasant summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rural Retreat beats the Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 39% of adults have high blood pressure in Rural Retreat.
| Rural Retreat | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 36% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Rural Retreat | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 7.7% |
| More adults with COPD | 8.5% | 6.2% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8% | 6.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Rural Retreat
About 5 of every 100 Rural Retreat residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
2 places in Rural Retreat on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Rural Retreat.
Town in Virginia, United States
Rural Retreat is a town in Wythe County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rural Retreat had a population of 1,546.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($57,745 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
3 notable people were born here, including Deacon Phillippe and Doris Crouse-Mays.
