Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The best of Shawsville’s subject grades are an A− for cost of living and schools; the weakest is a D for walkability. On hazard risk, just 3 of Virginia’s 372 towns do worse. Shawsville has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Fotheringay and Nealy Gordon Farm. Shawsville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Shawsville beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Shawsville Middle | 6–8 | 193 |
FotheringayIn a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Shawsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 2 maps from 1965 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shawsville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Park & preserveAppalachian Trail3.0M visitors a year
8 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
9 mi Stadium & arenaLane Stadium
20 mi LakeMountain Lake
19 mi MuseumVirginia Museum of Transportation
19 mi MuseumTaubman Museum of ArtAppalachian Trail: Paulba. Original uploader was Paulbalegend at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lane Stadium: User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mountain Lake: Rolfmueller, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Virginia Museum of Transportation: Warfieldian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Taubman Museum of Art: O Palsson, CC BY 2.0
Shawsville is unincorporated, so Montgomery 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 Shawsville.
The typical Shawsville home is worth about $236,000, up 4% in a year, 43% below the Virginia typical home. At $1,087 a month, Shawsville’s median rent is where Virginia’s towns sit at $1,762 a month and U.S. towns at $1,185 a month. 83% of Shawsville households own their home.
| Shawsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,087 a month | $1,762 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Montgomery County Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawsville MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 193 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
At 83 of 100, Shawsville’s FEMA risk score is against 22 of 100 in Virginia’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Shawsville for work: only 2% work in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Shawsville. The top destinations are Christiansburg (18%), Salem (9%) and Roanoke (9%).
| Shawsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 4.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Shawsville beats the Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13.
| Shawsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 23% |
| What stands out | Shawsville | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 18.7% | 12.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.2% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.4% | 11.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Shawsville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 25° and about 18 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.4 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Shawsville’s trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Shawsville | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Creed Fields Park | — | 13 |
| 2. Sweet Springs State Natural Area Preserve | 0.2 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Shawsville
About 1 of every 100 Shawsville residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Shawsville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Shawsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Virginia, United States
Shawsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Shawsville had a population of 1,241. It is part of the Blacksburg–Christiansburg Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Montgomery County, Virginia, and the city of Radford.
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. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
