Martinsville, Virginia

Area Profile

13,658 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Martinsville, in Henry County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 25% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3878th of 3,904 published cities17
Schools1850th of 2,668 published cities36
GrowthTop 34% of 2,973 published cities59
Housing affordabilityTop 23% of 4,223 published cities94
ClimateTop 37% of 4,223 published cities73
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 4,182 published cities63
Access3514th of 4,226 published cities75
Economic stability4030th of 4,226 published cities27
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.6% and the Opportunity signal places Martinsville in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.1 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 21% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.1 times that income.

At a glance

Population
13,658
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$46,727
Bottom 18% nationally
Density
1,247/sq mi
11.0 sq mi of land
Median age
38.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Henry County
Virginia
Metro area
Martinsville, VA
Nearest major airport
GSO
40 mi · Piedmont Triad Intl
Median home value
$98,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.6% is lower than 12% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.9% over the past year, to 5,406 employed residents.

Median household income of $46,727 is below 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,215$46,727Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,412$30,603Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.5%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.4 minBottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher22.1%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment5,406Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-7.6%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.9%Bottom 11%June 2026
Labor force5,728Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force participation57.2%Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.6%Top 25%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.6%Top 12%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/068.23.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.6% 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
202120222023202447k37k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $46,727 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 59% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
40.7%
Bottom 24% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
59.0%
Bottom 33% in Virginia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Laurel Park MiddleHenry County Public Schools73417.967%77%
Meadow View ElementaryHenry County Public Schools65916.139%58%
Martinsville HighMartinsville City Public Schools54013.5
G.W. Carver ElementaryHenry County Public Schools46015.339%62%
Albert Harris ElementaryMartinsville City Public Schools39911.122%33%
Martinsville MiddleMartinsville City Public Schools38711.147%62%
Patrick Henry ElementaryMartinsville City Public Schools35712.825%45%
Mount Olivet ElementaryHenry County Public Schools27115.930%56%
Rich Acres ElementaryHenry County Public Schools25313.328%66%
Clearview Early Learning CenterMartinsville City Public Schools11012.2
Piedmont Governor's SchoolPiedmont Governor's School0

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 $808 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.1 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
20.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$808
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$98,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.11Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate55.4%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±227,035Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$32$808Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$27,859$98,400Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.8%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate18.8%Top 26%2024 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
59/ 100
Top 34% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2022 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 3% since 2020, reaching 13,834 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

93% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
43
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Top 41% nationally
Year over year
+115%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
93.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202414k13k
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
2022202320242025472.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+2250%).

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 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.4 inches, including 9.4 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 MARTINSVILLE FLTR PLT, 1.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation47.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall9.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing40°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

63 / 100
Physical resilience

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

LandslideModerate
HurricaneModerate
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Strong windModerate
DroughtModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, hail, tornado, heat wave, wildfire, avalanche.

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Henry County records 11.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 32.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.6 per 100,000 residents in Henry County.

Homicide
11.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
32.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
18.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.6
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 Henry County 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 Martinsville rather than Martinsville 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
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 40 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO40 mi10,001 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU82 mi10,000 ft
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT118 mi10,000 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
54
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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.

ZIP codes in Martinsville

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2411231,028$48,77054