Front Royal, Virginia

Area Profile

15,296 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Front Royal, in Warren County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 27% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity3,136th of 4,199 cities measured45
Schools2,829th of 4,162 cities measured36
GrowthTop 47% of 4,224 cities measured52
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 4,218 cities measured70
Climate2,240th of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilience2,828th of 4,226 cities measured42
Access3,516th of 4,226 cities measured76
Economic stability3,221st of 4,226 cities measured42
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 3.5% and the Opportunity signal places Front Royal in the bottom 25%. The unemployment rate is published for Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, rather than for Front Royal alone.

In the public schools here, 78% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

155 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, rather than for Front Royal alone.

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
15,296
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$64,838
Bottom 47% nationally
Density
1,489/sq mi
10.3 sq mi of land
Median age
37.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Virginia
Nearest major airport
IAD
39 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$314,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, is 3.5%, lower than in 81% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, fell 2.4% over the past year, to 20,554 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWarren County, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$73,71652nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWarren County, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$67,15338th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$8,2422024 ACS 5-Year$64,838Bottom 47%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2702024 ACS 5-Year$33,846Top 50%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year14.4%Bottom 37%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year35.1 minBottom 16%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year18.8%Bottom 45%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%46th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWarren County, VA’s figureJuly 202620,554Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Warren County, VA’s figureJuly 2026−3.7%Bottom 8%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Warren County, VA’s figureJuly 2026−2.4%Bottom 16%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWarren County, VA’s figureJuly 202621,29424th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year75.4%Bottom 40%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$91,930Top 6%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageWashington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$71,060Top 8%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%76th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Warren County, VA’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWarren County, VA’s figureJuly 20263.5%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.9%55th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202465k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $64,838 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

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Warren County, VA, which contains this city.

78% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 76% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
78.1%
Bottom 22% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
75.7%
Bottom 31% in Virginia
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Skyline HighWarren County Public Schools84814.675%82%
Warren County HighWarren County Public Schools77213.387%85%
Ressie Jeffries ElementaryWarren County Public Schools64915.578%69%
Warren County MiddleWarren County Public Schools56912.682%80%
Skyline MiddleWarren County Public Schools53611.269%69%
Leslie Fox Keyser ElementaryWarren County Public Schools47413.580%72%
E. Wilson Morrison ElementaryWarren County Public Schools45813.169%62%
Hilda J. Barbour ElementaryWarren County Public Schools45315.186%80%
A.S. Rhodes ElementaryWarren County Public Schools26516.672%72%

73.9% 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 10% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 109.5, 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 Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV Metropolitan Division is up 34% over five years, and up 2.6% 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 $1,600 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.51% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,300, some 15% above the $1,135 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,300 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $52,000 a year, about 80% of the median household income here of $64,838.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,135 a month.

A median home at $314,400 costs 3.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,434, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
109.5

Prices here run about 10% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 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
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,300
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,135
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$314,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Front Royal’s median household income of $64,838, 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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area’s figure2023109.5Bottom 27%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+2.6%39th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+33.9%24th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+67.3%11th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year3.7Bottom 22%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year58.2%18th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3462024 ACS 5-Year6,39191st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$990Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,730Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,300Top 28%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$1,135Bottom 36%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,2622024 ACS 5-Year$314,40074th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1252024 ACS 5-Year$1,60045th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,2212024 ACS 5-Year$85,434Top 42%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.51%12th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 46%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±212024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%47th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2042024 ACS 5-Year41588th percentileof 32,3302024 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

52/ 100
Top 47% of 4,224 published city profiles

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 4% since 2020, reaching 15,628 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 15,628 residents in 2024, up 1.1% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 155 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, rather than for Front Royal alone.

Federal tax returns show Warren County, which contains Front Royal, gained about 1.1% 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 $73,716, above the $67,153 of households that moved out.

At 3.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Warren County, VA, which contains Front Royal, rather than for Front Royal alone.

Units permitted
155
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.7
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
−4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202416k15k
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
+1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
31%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$73,716
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$67,153
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Fairfax County, VA 271 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Prince William County, VA 256 people · 10.0% of arrivals
  3. Frederick County, VA 224 people · 8.7% of arrivals
  4. Shenandoah County, VA 188 people · 7.3% of arrivals
  5. Fauquier County, VA 164 people · 6.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Frederick County, VA 333 people · 15% of departures
  2. Shenandoah County, VA 254 people · 12% of departures
  3. Berkeley County, WV 95 people · 4.3% of departures
  4. Prince William County, VA 91 people · 4.2% of departures
  5. Fauquier County, VA 86 people · 3.9% 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. This is the figure for Warren County, VA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Front Royal, VA is not one. This is the figure for Warren County, VA, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.4 inches, including 21.1 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 FRONT ROYAL, 1.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals21.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

42 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 77% of it. Strong wind and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingElevated
LightningModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, avalanche, earthquake, strong wind, winter weather, hail, wildfire, tornado, ice storm, tsunami, coastal flooding, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
247
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,179
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Front Royal's police department reported 247 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,179.

Warren County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.8 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 14.8 per 100,000 residents in Warren County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
14.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
15.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Front Royal’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Front Royal (Warren County) rather than Front Royal itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Washington Dulles Intl at 39 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year88.2%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle39 miBottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.6%Bottom 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD39 mi11,500 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI83 mi10,503 ft
Richmond IntlRIC109 mi9,003 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
52
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Other cities in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia681,29468Washington vs Front Royal
ArlingtonArlington County236,25473Arlington vs Front Royal
AlexandriaAlexandria city156,97660Alexandria vs Front Royal
GermantownMontgomery County90,71968
FrederickFrederick County83,39567
WaldorfCharles County82,94360
Silver SpringMontgomery County81,46268
CentrevilleFairfax County71,70667
Dale CityPrince William County71,01663
GaithersburgMontgomery County69,82568
BethesdaMontgomery County69,39770
RockvilleMontgomery County67,67170

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Front Royal side by side with a similar place.

Front Royal vs Cape GirardeauFront Royal vs Clute

Moving to Front Royal from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in Front Royal

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Front Royal with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2263035,615$84,631$358,60054