These Are The 10 Best Places In Virginia To Catch Pokémon

So, you want to catch ’em all, huh?
Pokemon Go has swept the nation, and the app has broken records for the most downloads in the first week of release. All over the country, people are swarming, gathering, and all around going nuts, playing this interactive game.
Since we’re a data analytics website, and because we’re often cited as the ‘go to’ place for regional infotainment, we thought it was our duty to be as helpful as we can for people in Virginia who want to have the inside scoop as to where they should go if they want to dominate this addicting game.
After analyzing every place in Virginia, here is our list of the best places to catch Pokemon in the Old Dominion:

1. Dumfries (Photos)
2. Bridgewater (Photos)
3. Vinton (Photos)
4. Falls Church (Photos)
5. Strasburg (Photos)
6. Bluefield
7. Ashland (Photos)
8. Manassas Park (Photos)
9. Buena Vista (Photos)
10. Lexington (Photos)

As you might note, these are all smaller suburbs of major cities in Virginia. That’s because in smaller cities, there are a higher number of places per capita where Pokemon are traditionally found. Meaning you’ll find more Pokemon in a much smaller area. When you read the analysis below, this will all make sense. Trust us.
So, grab your avatars, cell phones, and your Poke Balls as we uncover the truly best places in Virginia in which to find the most Pokemon, based on data.
For more Virginia reading , check out:

• 10 Worst Cities In Virginia For 2017
• 10 Most Diverse Cities In Virginia
• 10 Best Places To Live In Virginia

How do you decide where the best place is to catch Pokemon?

In order to rank the best places in Virginia in which to catch ’em all, we had to determine which cities, towns and villages in Virginia have the most places to find Pokemon.
So we scraped the internet for those criteria, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

How we crunched the numbers

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using Google Maps, this is the criteria we used:

• Number of parks per capita
• Number of museums per capita
• Number of churches per capita
• Number of memorials and public gathering places per capita

If you’d like to see the complete list of cities, scroll to the bottom of this post to see a chart of the top cities.
Note: When measuring the locations listed above, we measured the locations within a short drive of the center of each place in Virginia.

1. Dumfries

Population: 5,122
Parks Per 1,000 People: 10.93
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.56
Churches Per 1,000 People: 11.71
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 3.32

2. Bridgewater

Population: 5,812
Parks Per 1,000 People: 4.13
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.72
Churches Per 1,000 People: 10.32
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.55

3. Vinton

Population: 8,129
Parks Per 1,000 People: 6.77
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.6
Churches Per 1,000 People: 7.38
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 2.95

4. Falls Church

Population: 13,074
Parks Per 1,000 People: 4.59
Museums Per 1,000 People: 4.59
Churches Per 1,000 People: 4.59
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 4.59

5. Strasburg

Population: 6,486
Parks Per 1,000 People: 2.47
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.54
Churches Per 1,000 People: 9.25
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 3.39

6. Bluefield

Population: 5,375
Parks Per 1,000 People: 2.79
Museums Per 1,000 People: 0.93
Churches Per 1,000 People: 11.16
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.86

7. Ashland

Population: 7,264
Parks Per 1,000 People: 3.99
Museums Per 1,000 People: 0.83
Churches Per 1,000 People: 8.26
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.65

8. Manassas Park

Population: 14,992
Parks Per 1,000 People: 4.0
Museums Per 1,000 People: 0.8
Churches Per 1,000 People: 4.0
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 3.87

9. Buena Vista

Population: 6,683
Parks Per 1,000 People: 1.8
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.35
Churches Per 1,000 People: 8.08
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.65

10. Lexington

Population: 7,114
Parks Per 1,000 People: 1.69
Museums Per 1,000 People: 1.27
Churches Per 1,000 People: 7.59
Public Gathering Places Per 1,000 People: 1.55

There You Have It

If you’re looking at communities in Virginia where you have a much higher chance of catching Pokemon, this is an accurate list.
If you’re also curious enough, here’s how the larger cities in Virginia with the most reliable locations to catch a Pokemon rank, according to science.

1. Alexandria (Photos)
2. Portsmouth (Photos)
3. Roanoke (Photos)
4. Richmond (Photos)
5. Hampton (Photos)

For more Virginia reading, check out:

• 10 Most Diverse Cities In Virginia
• 10 Safest Places In Virginia
• 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Virginia

Detailed List Of The Best Places In Virginia To Catch Pokemon

Rank	City	Population
1	Dumfries	5,122
2	Bridgewater	5,812
3	Vinton	8,129
4	Falls Church	13,074
5	Strasburg	6,486
6	Bluefield	5,375
7	Ashland	7,264
8	Manassas Park	14,992
9	Buena Vista	6,683
10	Lexington	7,114
11	Woodstock	5,164
12	Poquoson	12,103
13	Williamsburg	14,401
14	Smithfield	8,159
15	Marion	5,931
16	Abingdon	8,176
17	Big Stone Gap	5,559
18	Galax	6,981
19	Martinsville	13,745
20	Wytheville	8,193
21	Herndon	24,141
22	Hopewell	22,375
23	Colonial Heights	17,542
24	Purcellville	8,350
25	Radford	16,993
26	Salem	25,120
27	South Boston	8,069
28	Warrenton	9,774
29	Franklin	8,534
30	Farmville	8,350
31	Vienna	16,173
32	Covington	5,853
33	Fredericksburg	26,632
34	Pulaski	8,993
35	Fairfax	23,507
36	Bristol	17,595
37	Front Royal	14,709
38	Manassas	40,436
39	Emporia	5,682
40	Christiansburg	21,427
41	Richlands	5,698
42	Waynesboro	21,177
43	Winchester	27,031
44	Danville	42,704
45	Staunton	24,132
46	Ashland	7,264
47	Petersburg	32,439
48	Culpeper	16,968
49	Alexandria	146,422
50	Charlottesville	44,505
51	Blacksburg	43,204
52	Portsmouth	96,007
53	Lynchburg	77,626
54	Leesburg	46,211
55	Harrisonburg	50,821
56	Roanoke	97,949
57	Hampton	136,904
58	Richmond	211,063
59	Newport News	181,362
60	Suffolk	85,477
61	Norfolk	244,745
62	Virginia Beach	445,623
63	Chesapeake	228,168
64	Lynchburg	77,626