Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sandston gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $320K, 3.7 years of the Richmond metro’s $87K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 191st of 249 graded towns in Virginia. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 78% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 13% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Sandston, against 44% in Virginia’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Sandston has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Seven Pines National Cemetery and Glendale National Cemetery.
Where Sandston beats most towns.
Seven Pines National CemeteryWhere Sandston’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 Sandston is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,902 in 1950, 7,779 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1912 and 7 maps from 1894 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sandston. Close and well known come first.
8 mi LandmarkHollywood Cemetery
24 mi Theme parkKings Dominion
7 mi MuseumWhite House of the Confederacy
9 mi LandmarkRobert E. Lee Monument
38 mi MuseumColonial Williamsburg
7 mi Stadium & arenaRichmond ColiseumHollywood Cemetery: Andrew Bain, Public domain · Kings Dominion: Erechtheus, CC BY-SA 3.0 · White House of the Confederacy: AlbertHerring, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Robert E. Lee Monument: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Colonial Williamsburg: Humberto Moreno, CC BY 2.0 · Richmond Coliseum: Mentes at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Sandston is unincorporated, so Henrico 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 Sandston.
8,517 jobs are based in Sandston, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Sandston for work: only 6% work in town. Sandston’s median household income is $59,000. The top destinations are Richmond (19%), Mechanicsville (5%) and Innsbrook (2%).
| Sandston | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $59,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 12% | 18% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Henrico County Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seven Pines ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 399 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 95% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Sandston since 2018.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
37% of adults feel lonely in Sandston. Sandston beats the Virginia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 18. 19% of adults report frequent mental distress in Sandston.
| Sandston | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 36% |
| What stands out | Sandston | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 7.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.3% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
55% of Sandston households own their home. The typical Sandston home is worth about $320,000, up 3.7% in a year, 22% below the Virginia typical home. The median rent in Sandston is $1,211 a month.
| Sandston | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,211 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Sandston has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 28° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1.1 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Taylor Farm Park, at 98 acres.
| Sandston | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Taylor Farm Park | 0.1 mi | 98 |
| 2. Sandston Recreation Area | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
8 within 15 miles of the center of Sandston
About 5 of every 100 Sandston residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
2 places in Sandston on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Sandston is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States, just outside the state capital of Richmond. As of the 2020 census, Sandston had a population of 7,779. It was designated a Historic District by Henrico County in 2021.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Sandston.
Sandston and Montrose report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sandston with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sandston grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #191 of 249 in Virginia. It grades C− for health and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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