Fredericksburg city, VA

County Profile

28,873 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Fredericksburg city, 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.

60out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 41% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity722nd of 1,255 counties measured52
Schools879th of 973 counties measured17
Growth797th of 1,226 counties measured42
Housing affordability1142nd of 1,255 counties measured64
ClimateTop 17% of 1,254 counties measured76
Physical resilienceTop 8% of 1,255 counties measured90
Access774th of 1,255 counties measured76
Economic stabilityTop 27% of 1,255 counties measured77
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $86,071, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 5.6 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 23% of it.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published profiles, placing Fredericksburg city in the top 8% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
28,873
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,071
Top 12% nationally
Density
2,763/sq mi
10.4 sq mi of land
Median age
32.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Fredericksburg city
Virginia
Metro area
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Nearest major airport
IAD
45 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$483,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 54% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 3.0% over the past year, to 15,605 employed residents.

46% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US locations.

Household income is higher than at least 88% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$6,832$86,071Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,295$47,502Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate13.2%Bottom 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.5 minTop 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher46.1%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment15,605Bottom 13%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.7%Bottom 16%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.0%Bottom 9%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force16,269Bottom 14%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation69.3%Top 5%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 28%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 46%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.92.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202486k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,071 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 — Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers112,530$156,460
Business Operations Specialists, All Other76,600$104,770
Software Developers69,060$154,930
Retail Salespersons66,920$36,610
Management Analysts62,360$126,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,560$34,600

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.

30% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
30.1%
Bottom 5% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
53.4%
Bottom 17% in Virginia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
James Monroe HighFredericksburg City Public Schools1,01315.3
Hugh Mercer ElementaryFredericksburg City Public Schools85915.9
Lafayette ElementaryFredericksburg City Public Schools81215.333%55%
Walker-Grant MiddleFredericksburg City Public Schools79614.727%52%
Walker-Grant Early Childhood CenterFredericksburg City Public Schools14918.6

92.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,619 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.6 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
22.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.6×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,619
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$483,700
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income5.62Top 5%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate39.7%Bottom 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4712,419Top 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$66$1,619Top 6%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$24,982$483,700Top 5%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.6%Top 9%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.6%Bottom 8%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
42/ 100
Ranks 797 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 3 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 7% since 2020, reaching 29,992 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
31
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 17% nationally
Year over year
+41%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202430k28k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
20202021202220232024202518325
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−76%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.0 inches, including 12.4 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station QUANTICO MCAS, 17.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation41.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall12.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

90 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, strong wind and tornado.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 91% of measured US locations.

HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, heat wave, hail, inland flooding, winter weather, coastal flooding, ice storm, landslide, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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

Fredericksburg city records 3.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.0 per 100,000 residents in Fredericksburg city.

Homicide
3.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
16.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Fredericksburg city as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Fredericksburg city rather than Fredericksburg city itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 45 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD45 mi11,500 ft
Richmond IntlRIC56 mi9,003 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI75 mi10,503 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
60
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

Cities in Fredericksburg city, VA