Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Smithfield grades B+ overall, 129th of 249 graded towns in Virginia, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $113K and its schools outperform 80% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $403K, 4.9 years of the Virginia Beach metro’s $82K median household income. Its National Register listings include Old Isle of Wight Courthouse and Smithfield Historic District. Among 253 Virginia towns, just 7 have a higher January low than Smithfield. The biggest place to walk is Windsor Castle Park, 208 acres with 3.9 miles of trail.
Where Smithfield beats most towns.
Census counts: 733 in 1850, 8,533 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1948 and 3 maps from 1919 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Smithfield is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Smithfield. Close and well known come first.
18 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Williamsburg
21 mi MuseumColonial Williamsburg
17 mi National MonumentFort Monroe National Monument
20 mi MuseumJamestown Settlement
20 mi MuseumMacArthur Memorial
30 mi Ancient siteWerowocomocoBusch Gardens Williamsburg: Cjh1452000, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Colonial Williamsburg: Humberto Moreno, CC BY 2.0 · Fort Monroe National Monument: Unknown, Public domain · Jamestown Settlement: Warfieldian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · MacArthur Memorial: Unknown, Public domain · Werowocomoco: engraved by William Hole, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Smithfield, 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 Smithfield.
Smithfield owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
11 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Smithfield’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile, against 0.7 in Virginia’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Windsor Castle Park | 3.9 mi | 208 |
| 2. Wellington Park | — | 19 |
| 3. Riverview Park | 0.1 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Isle of Wight County Public Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westside ElementaryLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 682 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Smithfield has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Smithfield’s July high is 89°F, near the Virginia town median (88°F) and above the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 29 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Smithfield.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here fell from 6,149 in 2013 to 4,517.
Most working residents leave Smithfield for work: only 12% work in town. Since 2013, Smithfield has lost 1,632 jobs, to 4,517 in 2023. 5.4% of Smithfield residents live below the poverty line.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $113,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,715 U.S. towns with household incomes like Smithfield’s, it is less healthy than 73%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Smithfield beats the Virginia average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 40% of adults have high blood pressure in Smithfield.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 79% | 79% |
| What stands out | Smithfield | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 7.1% | 8.7% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.4% | 76.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.4% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Adults 35 to 64 are 43% of residents (39% statewide). Smithfield’s median age is 46.3 years. Smithfield has grown 6.8% since 2020, to 9,112 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.3 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 18% | 23% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 44% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 16% | 18% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Smithfield | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.4% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.1% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.9% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.1% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.6% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.5% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.5% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.1% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The violent crime rate in Smithfield is 2.7 per 1,000 residents. Within Virginia, it does better than 73% of towns. The property crime rate in Smithfield is 8.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.7 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Smithfield home is worth about $403,000, up 2.4% in a year, close to the Virginia typical home.
| Smithfield | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,195 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Smithfield
About 7 of every 100 Smithfield residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Virginia.
Coastal flooding makes up 9% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
7 places in Smithfield on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Smithfield.
Town in Virginia, United States
Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, United States. The population was 8,533 at the 2020 census. The town is most famous for the curing and production of the Smithfield ham. The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute defining "Smithfield ham" by law in 1926, with one of the requirements that it be processed within the town limits. Smithfield Foods, a Fortune 500 company that owns Smithfield Packing Company and others, is the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. The company, based in Smithfield, raises 12 million hogs and processes 20 million pounds of them annually. The company's largest s…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Smithfield.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | #129 | B+ | C | B− | A− | B |
| Benns Church | — | — | C | — | A− | C+ |
Benns Church has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Benns Church reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Smithfield with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Smithfield grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #129 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B for health, B− for safety and A− for schools.
Within Virginia, it does better than 73% of towns.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
7 notable people were born here, including Cliff Daniels and Ernest A. Finney, Jr..
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