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 rent at the middle of the market in Shawsville is $1,087 a month. 83% of Shawsville households own their home, above both the Virginia town median (68%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). Home values are up 4% over the year to September 2026.
| 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 one school is below. Public schools: the Montgomery County Public Schools. Shawsville’s only public school teaches 193 students.
| 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
Of the losses FEMA expects in Shawsville, 90% come from inland flooding. Households locally have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 83% of U.S. communities.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average trip to work for Shawsville comes to 21 minutes, below both Virginia’s towns (27 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). For most workers, Shawsville is a place to come home to: only 2% work in town. 17% of Shawsville residents live below the poverty line. 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
Among adults in Shawsville, 22% say their health is fair or poor. 20% of adults in Shawsville report frequent mental distress; 16% report frequent physical distress.
| 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
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
Across 2 parks and preserves: 0.4 miles of trail. The density of trails for Shawsville comes to 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−.
