Augusta County, VA

County Profile

78,033 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Augusta County, VA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 39% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured69
SchoolsTop 35% of 1,377 counties measured62
Growth1,018th of 1,453 counties measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 1,462 counties measured75
ClimateTop 44% of 1,463 counties measured70
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 1,463 counties measured66
Access1,430th of 1,463 counties measured9
Economic stabilityTop 18% of 1,463 counties measured83
The quick read

Augusta County ranks in the top 22% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 2.9% and median household income of $82,049.

In the public schools here, 86% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 251 units authorized over the past twelve months, 57% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
78,033
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$82,049
Top 16% nationally
Density
81/sq mi
967.1 sq mi of land
Median age
45.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Augusta County
Virginia
Nearest major airport
IAD
105 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$306,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.9%, lower than in 93% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 39,361 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$68,92571st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$59,53156th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4142024 ACS 5-Year$82,049Top 16%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4892024 ACS 5-Year$40,342Top 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.4 minTop 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.1%Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.5%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202639,361Top 46%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.0%Bottom 16%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Top 37%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202640,53654th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year78.8%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%66th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20262.9%Top 7%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.21.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 2.9% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202482k69k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $82,049 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,880$47,310
Retail Salespersons1,520$33,440
Registered Nurses1,500$92,390
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,470$29,310
Cashiers1,330$29,530
Stockers and Order Fillers1,240$36,880

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

86% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 78% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 17 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
22
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across 17 of them
Math proficiency
85.6%
Top 24% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
77.6%
Bottom 46% in Virginia
The 12 largest of 22 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Wilson Memorial HighAugusta County Public Schools83714.290%87%
Edward G. Clymore ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools80316.185%71%
Fort Defiance HighAugusta County Public Schools73114.189%87%
Riverheads ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools71415.587%75%
Stuarts Draft HighAugusta County Public Schools66814.594%87%
Wilson ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools65514.982%75%
Stuarts Draft ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools64616.175%64%
Wilson MiddleAugusta County Public Schools64113.681%79%
Cassell ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools63415.587%75%
S. Gordon Stewart MiddleAugusta County Public Schools51613.283%81%
Stuarts Draft MiddleAugusta County Public Schools51313.283%77%
Riverheads HighAugusta County Public Schools46713.795%82%

67.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area is up 58% over five years, and up 7.5% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,446 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.47% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,261, some 11% above the $1,136 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,261 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $50,400 a year, about 61% of the median household income here of $82,049.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,136 a month.

A median home at $306,100 costs 3.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $90,667, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
92.9

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,261
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,136
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$306,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Augusta County’s median household income of $82,049, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure202392.9Top 40%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.5%96th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+57.6%92nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+100.1%58th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.4Bottom 20%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.2%81st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±452024 ACS 5-Year33,11176th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,095Bottom 35%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,734Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,261Bottom 41%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$1,136Bottom 20%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,4962024 ACS 5-Year$306,10081st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$402024 ACS 5-Year$1,44644th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,3802024 ACS 5-Year$90,667Top 23%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.47%14th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.0%Top 42%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1772024 ACS 5-Year47758th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.4%33rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.7%13th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3902024 ACS 5-Year2,02854th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 1,018 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 78,622 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 251 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Augusta County gained about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $68,925, above the $59,531 of households that moved out.

At 3.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
251
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Top 45% nationally
Year over year
−57%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202479k78k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
23%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$68,925
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$59,531
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Staunton city, VA 796 people · 21% of arrivals
  2. Waynesboro city, VA 607 people · 16% of arrivals
  3. Rockingham County, VA 397 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Harrisonburg city, VA 184 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  5. Rockbridge County, VA 115 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Staunton city, VA 683 people · 21% of departures
  2. Waynesboro city, VA 565 people · 17% of departures
  3. Rockingham County, VA 365 people · 11% of departures
  4. Harrisonburg city, VA 117 people · 3.6% of departures
  5. Rockbridge County, VA 108 people · 3.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025495190
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+54%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 25°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.6 inches, including 21.6 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station STAUNTON WTP, 3.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals40.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals21.6"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals25°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

66 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 71% of it. Strong wind is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

LandslideModerate
Inland floodingModerate
HurricaneModerate
Winter weatherModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: hail, strong wind, wildfire, drought, lightning, avalanche, heat wave, tornado, ice storm, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Augusta County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 14.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 8.1 per 100,000 residents in Augusta County.

Homicide
3.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
8.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
17.9
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Augusta County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 105 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.0%Bottom 43%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle105 miBottom 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Bottom 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD105 mi11,500 ft
Richmond IntlRIC110 mi9,003 ft
Arnold Palmer RgnlLBE146 mi8,222 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
62
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Augusta County, VA