Staunton, Virginia

Area Profile

25,948 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Staunton, in Staunton city.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 46% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 27% of 4,199 cities measured68
Schools2,091st of 4,162 cities measured50
Growth2,786th of 4,224 cities measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 20% of 4,218 cities measured77
Climate2,146th of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 42% of 4,226 cities measured66
Access4,189th of 4,226 cities measured11
Economic stability2,936th of 4,226 cities measured47
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.2% and median household income $65,581, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 84% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.4 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 94 units authorized over the past twelve months, 28% 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
25,948
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,581
Bottom 48% nationally
Density
1,303/sq mi
19.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Virginia
Nearest major airport
IAD
102 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$259,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 89% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.2% over the past year, to 12,820 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 79% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,9192024 ACS 5-Year$65,581Bottom 48%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2952024 ACS 5-Year$36,608Top 41%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Bottom 44%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.2 minTop 27%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year37.7%Top 21%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.7%45th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202612,820Bottom 8%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.1%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Top 31%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,2397th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.7%Bottom 48%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageStaunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$57,310Bottom 8%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageStaunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,040Bottom 23%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)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%55th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.02.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% 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

202120222023202466k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,581 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.

84% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 76% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.4 students for every full-time teacher across 8 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.4
across 8 of them
Math proficiency
84.4%
Bottom 49% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
76.3%
Bottom 34% in Virginia
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Staunton HighStaunton City Public Schools76613.280%82%
Riverheads ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools71415.587%75%
Shelburne MiddleStaunton City Public Schools58311.977%69%
Riverheads HighAugusta County Public Schools46713.795%82%
Thomas C. McSwain ElementaryStaunton City Public Schools44914.590%82%
Bessie Weller ElementaryStaunton City Public Schools37312.077%67%
Arthur R. Ware ElementaryStaunton City Public Schools37212.087%74%
Staunton City School PreSchool ProgramsStaunton City Public Schools14918.6——
Virginia School for the Deaf and the BlindVirginia School for the Deaf and Blind-Staunton652.2——
Western St. Hosp. Ed. Pr.Western State Hospital0———
Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Detention HomeDepartment of Education State-Operated Educ Prgms0———

78.0% 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 $1,818 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.70% 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 23% above the $1,024 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 77% of the median household income here of $65,581.

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 $1,024 a month.

A median home at $259,200 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,137, 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
28.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,261
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,024
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$259,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Staunton’s median household income of $65,581, 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 16%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+7.5%97th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+57.6%93rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+100.1%62nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 34%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year60.9%22nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±322024 ACS 5-Year12,39795th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,095Top 29%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,734Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,261Top 25%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$692024 ACS 5-Year$1,024Bottom 45%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,8432024 ACS 5-Year$259,20066th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$792024 ACS 5-Year$1,81851st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,0162024 ACS 5-Year$86,137Top 41%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.70%29th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year28.0%Top 48%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1552024 ACS 5-Year22294th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.8%68th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.0%50th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2712024 ACS 5-Year1,08895th 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

43/ 100
Ranks 2,786 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 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 2% since 2020, reaching 26,361 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 147 units authorized in 2025, up 107% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 94 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 17% are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 3.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
94
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.6
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−28%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
17.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202426k26k
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, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202524570
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+110%).

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, 1.4 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
HurricaneModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Winter weatherModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, hail, lightning, wildfire, drought, 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). 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
169
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,351
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.

Staunton's police department reported 169 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,351.

Staunton city has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.7 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 about 12.7 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 7.8 per 100,000 residents in Staunton city.

Homicide
4.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
7.8
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 Staunton’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 Staunton (Staunton city) rather than Staunton 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

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 102 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.3%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle102 miBottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.4%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD102 mi11,500 ft
Richmond IntlRIC105 mi9,003 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI147 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.

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Area Score
60
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Other cities in Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
WaynesboroWaynesboro city22,84163Waynesboro vs Staunton
Stuarts DraftAugusta County11,78060Stuarts Draft vs Staunton

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 Staunton side by side with a similar place.

Staunton vs Jefferson CityStaunton vs Columbia

Moving to Staunton 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)
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
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 Staunton

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Staunton with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Staunton closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2440138,756$66,300$278,600—