Stuarts Draft, Virginia

Area Profile

11,780 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Stuarts Draft, in Augusta County.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 47% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 32% of 4,199 cities measured65
Schools2,395th of 4,162 cities measured44
Growth3,016th of 4,224 cities measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 12% of 4,218 cities measured80
ClimateTop 26% of 4,225 cities measured76
Physical resilienceTop 46% of 4,226 cities measured62
Access4,183rd of 4,226 cities measured13
Economic stabilityTop 24% of 4,226 cities measured70
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.9% and median household income $79,332, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, rather than for Stuarts Draft alone.

In the public schools here, 84% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 251 units authorized over the past twelve months, 57% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, rather than for Stuarts Draft 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
11,780
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,332
Top 34% nationally
Density
402/sq mi
29.3 sq mi of land
Median age
45.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Virginia
Nearest major airport
RIC
100 mi · Richmond Intl
Median home value
$294,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, is 2.9%, lower than in 95% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, grew 0.1% over the past year, to 39,361 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsAugusta County, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$68,92544th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftAugusta County, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,53123rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,8942024 ACS 5-Year$79,332Top 34%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,1452024 ACS 5-Year$42,902Top 27%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%Top 35%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.3 minTop 22%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year22.2%Top 46%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.6%65th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentAugusta County, VA’s figureJuly 202639,361Bottom 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Augusta County, VA’s figureJuly 2026−3.0%Bottom 13%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Augusta County, VA’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Top 33%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceAugusta County, VA’s figureJuly 202640,53641st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year84.9%Top 24%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-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Augusta County, VA’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateAugusta County, VA’s figureJuly 20262.9%Top 5%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year7.0%47th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202479k68k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,332 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.

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

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

There are 14.7 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
83.8%
Bottom 44% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
76.2%
Bottom 33% in Virginia
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Stuarts Draft HighAugusta County Public Schools66814.594%87%
Stuarts Draft ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools64616.175%64%
Stuarts Draft MiddleAugusta County Public Schools51313.283%77%
Guy K. Stump ElementaryAugusta County Public Schools45715.282%77%

65.7% 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 $1,411 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.48% 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, close to the $1,201 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 64% of the median household income here of $79,332.

The typical renter household here spends 23% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,201 a month.

A median home at $294,300 costs 3.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $80,632, 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
23.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,261
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,201
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Stuarts Draft’s median household income of $79,332, 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 ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year3.6Bottom 22%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.2%55th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3352024 ACS 5-Year5,25689th 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 ±$1392024 ACS 5-Year$1,201Bottom 32%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,5682024 ACS 5-Year$294,30071st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$852024 ACS 5-Year$1,41139th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,6542024 ACS 5-Year$80,632Top 47%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.48%10th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year23.4%Top 26%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-Year3.4%29th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1232024 ACS 5-Year18076th 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

40/ 100
Ranks 3,016 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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 251 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, rather than for Stuarts Draft alone.

Federal tax returns show Augusta County, which contains Stuarts Draft, 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 cities. The permit rate is published for Augusta County, VA, which contains Stuarts Draft, rather than for Stuarts Draft alone.

Units permitted
251
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Top 42% nationally
Year over year
−57%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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. This is the figure for Augusta 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 Stuarts Draft, VA is not one. This is the figure for Augusta County, VA, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

7 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 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.2 inches.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHARLOTTESVILLE 2 SSE, 31.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals48.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 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

62 / 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, lightning, 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.

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 the county around Stuarts Draft (Augusta County) rather than Stuarts Draft itself. 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. Either no municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — or its department did not report every month of the year. Either way 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.
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 100 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year90.0%Top 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle100 miBottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year7.2%Top 49%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Richmond IntlRIC100 mi9,003 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD107 mi11,500 ft
Piedmont Triad IntlGSO142 mi10,001 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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—

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Other cities in Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
StauntonStaunton city25,94860Staunton vs Stuarts Draft
WaynesboroWaynesboro city22,84163Waynesboro vs Stuarts Draft

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 Stuarts Draft side by side with a similar place.

Stuarts Draft vs Soddy-DaisyStuarts Draft vs Madison Heights

Moving to Stuarts Draft 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
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
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
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 Stuarts Draft

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Stuarts Draft 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 Stuarts Draft 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
2447711,482$84,260$299,200—