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.
For half of commuters, work is under 12 miles away. In Sandston, the income of the median household is $59,000. Commuting out is the norm here: 6% of working residents work locally. 14% of Sandston residents live below the poverty line.
| 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
The public schools here belong to the Henrico County Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason 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
Compared with 95% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in Sandston is lower. One claim on flood insurance has been paid out here since 2018. FEMA puts 42% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 26% to earthquakes. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid in 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2004.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The town does better than the Virginia average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 18. 14% of adults have diabetes in Sandston. Among adults here, 19% report frequent mental distress and 40% have high blood pressure.
| 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
On the market in Sandston: a median 26 days to sell. The typical Sandston home is worth about $320,000, up 3.7% in a year, 22% below the Virginia typical home. The share of households in Sandston who own their home: 55%.
| 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
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Sandston’s density of trails stands at 0.1 miles per square mile. Trails total 1.1 miles 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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