Welcome to the happiest places in Virginia.
Using Saturday Night Science and data, we determined the cities and towns with the most rainbows, butterflies, puppies, and unicorns.
You know, the places where people have jobs, white-picked fences, and friendly neighbors – unicorn cities.
After analyzing the 62 largest cities, we happily present the happiest cities in the Old Dominion.
6.0% married households · 42.7% poverty · #1 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Montgomery County, Virginia
Blacksburg is by far the happiest place in the state of Virginia. Let’s see why.
First off, having a solid family life is a good indication of how happy someone is. Lots of the residents of Blacksburg aren’t missing out on love; more than 6% of them are married. Plus, the average commute time here is only about 14 minutes each way. That means a lot more time with the spouse and kids.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
25.0% married households · 15.9% poverty · #2 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Washington County, Virginia
Things look to be pretty pleasant in Abingdon. Crime is really low here, and the percentage of married residents (25%) mean there’s lots of stability at home.
In addition to those factors, there is a thriving amount of community involvement. Studies have shown that a key factor to happiness is when people volunteer, especially in their own neighborhoods.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
10.0% married households · 19.6% poverty · #3 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Charlottesville city, Virginia
The people who live in Charlottesville have a lot going for them. 63% of them have college degrees, and they command some of the highest salaries in VA. 10% of the people here are married.
Most of these all tops in the entire state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6.0% married households · 14.0% poverty · #4 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Lexington city, Virginia
Lexington is where you can bet there are lots of smiley and happy people all over town. Crime is essentially something that just doesn’t happen here very often. And when you can let your guard down and relax a little, the lack of stress really makes a difference.
Same goes on the job front. Only 0.6% of residents here are out of work. Sounds like there are jobs for just about everyone who wants one. Which must be a good feeling to have.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
25.0% married households · 11.7% poverty · #5 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Montgomery County, Virginia
If you want to see a bunch of happy people, go to Christiansburg. It seriously looks like something out of a commercial.
They have a 18 minute commute time, which means lots more time with the kids.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
27.0% married households · 21.2% poverty · #6 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Wythe County, Virginia
For those who say that money doesn’t buy happiness, you’re half right. Studies have shown that people are happy up to a certain point when it comes to annual salaries, somewhere around $72,000 a year. After that, it doesn’t matter how much you make, you’re not going to be much happier.
The residents of Wytheville have that covered. Plus about 27% of households are married.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
32.0% married households · 18.8% poverty · #7 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Buena Vista city, Virginia
Most of the people in Buena Vista have to be ‘plum’ happy. True happiness is ‘Home Sweet Home’ with your kids and spouse, being reminded to do chores, run errands and fold the clothes right.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% married households · 24.3% poverty · #8 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Hanover County, Virginia
Less than 4.9% of the residents in Ashland are jobless, which is just about as low as you’ll see.
Incomes are steady, and commute times are really low as well. That really takes away the stress factors that stop folks from relaxing and enjoying their ‘down time’ to do the little things that matter: Walks in the park, time alone with a book and extra face time with the children.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
22.0% married households · 6.3% poverty · #9 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Rockingham County, Virginia
About 46% of residents in Bridgewater, VA have a college degree. While we’ve all heard the saying, ‘Ignorance is bliss,’ our argument is: Ignorance is also broke.
Not only are most of the residents of Bridgewater smart, they’re safe, too.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% married households · 20.4% poverty · #10 happiest in Virginia
Located in
Prince Edward County, Virginia
In Farmville, most of the population is married, and most own their own homes.
The commute times (18 minutes each way) might eventually start to turn the corners of those smiles sideways.
But for now, it’s all roses in Farmville.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Virginia’s statewide median.
Virginia statewide median: $412,467
Virginia statewide median: 9.9%
On the map
Where the happiest places in Virginia are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Measured The Happiest Cities In The Old Dominion
To rank the happiest places in Virginia, we had to determine what criteria make people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress-free, and have a stable home life.
So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2020-2024 report for the happy criteria, added some Saturday Night Science, and generated the answer.
Here are the criteria we used to measure happiness:
- Percentage of residents with a college degree
- Average commute times
- Unemployment rates
- Cost of living
- % of married couples
- % of families with kids
- Poverty rate
After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 62 places in Virginia with over 5,000 people.
We then ranked each place from one to 62 for each of the seven criteria, with a score of one being the happiest.
Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Happy Index for each place with the lowest overall Happy Index “earning” the title “Happiest City In Virginia.”
If you’d like to see the complete list of cities, happiest to saddest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.
We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the happiest cities in Virginia.
The full plate
Happiest Cities In Virginia For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Happy Index | Population | Poverty Level | Median Home Value | % Married | % Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blacksburg | 14.71 | 45,446 | 42.7% | $420,779 | 6.0% | 18.0% |
| 2 | Abingdon | 18.43 | 8,330 | 15.9% | $281,619 | 25.0% | 19.3% |
| 3 | Charlottesville | 18.79 | 45,437 | 19.6% | $515,217 | 10.0% | 23.5% |
| 4 | Lexington | 19.29 | 7,525 | 14.0% | $358,989 | 6.0% | 15.7% |
| 5 | Christiansburg | 21.36 | 22,720 | 11.7% | $304,607 | 25.0% | 26.1% |
| 6 | Wytheville | 22.29 | 8,202 | 21.2% | $223,768 | 27.0% | 24.9% |
| 7 | Buena Vista | 23.57 | 6,593 | 18.8% | $196,020 | 32.0% | 26.1% |
| 8 | Ashland | 23.86 | 7,772 | 24.3% | $463,340 | 15.0% | 26.4% |
| 9 | Bridgewater | 23.93 | 6,708 | 6.3% | $375,081 | 22.0% | 27.8% |
| 10 | Farmville | 24.07 | 7,774 | 20.4% | $261,292 | 12.0% | 15.0% |
| 11 | Covington | 25.50 | 5,680 | 25.7% | $158,023 | 25.0% | 25.4% |
| 12 | Marion | 25.50 | 5,670 | 20.7% | $157,966 | 27.0% | 23.6% |
| 13 | Warrenton | 26.07 | 10,176 | 9.7% | $681,948 | 14.0% | 24.7% |
| 14 | Radford | 26.29 | 16,726 | 28.7% | $261,601 | 15.0% | 19.6% |
| 15 | Williamsburg | 26.50 | 15,798 | 18.8% | $464,104 | 8.0% | 19.8% |
| 16 | Salem | 26.57 | 25,618 | 10.2% | $305,426 | 26.0% | 26.7% |
| 17 | Lynchburg | 26.86 | 79,497 | 18.6% | $262,101 | 15.0% | 24.9% |
| 18 | Richmond | 27.43 | 229,359 | 18.2% | $369,646 | 13.0% | 20.1% |
| 19 | Staunton | 27.50 | 25,948 | 12.4% | $308,028 | 19.0% | 22.7% |
| 20 | Smithfield | 27.71 | 8,834 | 5.4% | $393,349 | 25.0% | 25.2% |
| 21 | Winchester | 28.00 | 27,913 | 21.5% | $399,457 | 15.0% | 24.3% |
| 22 | Alexandria | 29.00 | 156,976 | 7.9% | $676,205 | 4.0% | 20.6% |
| 23 | Roanoke | 29.71 | 98,355 | 18.3% | $277,113 | 18.0% | 23.7% |
| 24 | Harrisonburg | 29.79 | 51,392 | 25.7% | $348,178 | 10.0% | 28.2% |
| 25 | Martinsville | 30.07 | 13,658 | 23.5% | $133,032 | 18.0% | 25.5% |
| 26 | Fredericksburg | 30.07 | 28,873 | 13.2% | $480,265 | 11.0% | 23.0% |
| 27 | Danville | 31.36 | 42,214 | 24.7% | $156,399 | 20.0% | 21.7% |
| 28 | Fairfax | 31.57 | 25,026 | 9.1% | $792,535 | 7.0% | 29.8% |
| 29 | Galax | 31.64 | 6,726 | 31.1% | $182,063 | 24.0% | 27.4% |
| 30 | Poquoson | 31.64 | 12,639 | 4.5% | $462,480 | 34.0% | 38.7% |
| 31 | South Boston | 31.86 | 7,853 | 26.9% | $149,172 | 17.0% | 27.9% |
| 32 | Leesburg | 31.93 | 49,171 | 6.6% | $865,517 | 9.0% | 41.5% |
| 33 | Pulaski | 32.50 | 8,893 | 21.2% | $168,552 | 29.0% | 26.6% |
| 34 | Waynesboro | 32.57 | 22,841 | 11.2% | $312,910 | 20.0% | 26.8% |
| 35 | Bristol | 32.86 | 16,849 | 18.0% | $201,474 | 16.0% | 23.1% |
| 36 | Virginia Beach | 33.00 | 456,349 | 8.6% | $427,032 | 14.0% | 31.5% |
| 37 | Chesapeake | 33.43 | 252,583 | 9.4% | $420,756 | 20.0% | 35.7% |
| 38 | Purcellville | 34.14 | 8,973 | 4.6% | $909,565 | 11.0% | 42.2% |
| 39 | Orange | 34.86 | 5,066 | 14.1% | $336,894 | 17.0% | 25.0% |
| 40 | Culpeper | 35.14 | 20,794 | 12.8% | $451,495 | 15.0% | 42.1% |
| 41 | Vinton | 35.29 | 8,056 | 10.5% | $283,675 | 23.0% | 36.6% |
| 42 | Suffolk | 35.36 | 98,796 | 9.4% | $384,301 | 21.0% | 32.9% |
| 43 | Norfolk | 35.50 | 233,596 | 16.5% | $306,227 | 11.0% | 27.0% |
| 44 | Richlands | 35.50 | 5,171 | 30.2% | $106,217 | 38.0% | 27.2% |
| 45 | Herndon | 35.57 | 24,672 | 8.1% | $740,680 | 5.0% | 35.2% |
| 46 | Falls Church | 35.64 | 14,710 | 4.0% | $789,604 | 8.0% | 30.2% |
| 47 | Colonial Heights | 35.86 | 18,352 | 7.9% | $294,925 | 22.0% | 34.5% |
| 48 | Vienna | 35.86 | 16,412 | 5.0% | $1,179,673 | 7.0% | 43.6% |
| 49 | Petersburg | 36.07 | 33,537 | 21.7% | $245,998 | 14.0% | 19.9% |
| 50 | Franklin | 36.71 | 8,250 | 19.3% | $242,884 | 26.0% | 34.4% |
| 51 | Big Stone Gap | 36.79 | 5,162 | 26.2% | $140,137 | 24.0% | 31.5% |
| 52 | Newport News | 38.29 | 184,216 | 14.5% | $290,660 | 13.0% | 28.8% |
| 53 | Emporia | 38.50 | 5,547 | 15.8% | $159,794 | 19.0% | 37.3% |
| 54 | Hampton | 38.50 | 137,557 | 12.7% | $275,341 | 16.0% | 28.9% |
| 55 | Woodstock | 39.57 | 5,871 | 22.1% | $337,785 | 17.0% | 41.4% |
| 56 | Front Royal | 39.64 | 15,296 | 14.3% | $383,200 | 18.0% | 33.0% |
| 57 | Portsmouth | 40.00 | 97,190 | 17.3% | $260,462 | 18.0% | 30.5% |
| 58 | Strasburg | 40.21 | 7,214 | 7.5% | $346,089 | 22.0% | 29.5% |
| 59 | Manassas | 40.36 | 42,976 | 7.7% | $557,119 | 9.0% | 38.3% |
| 60 | Hopewell | 41.14 | 22,959 | 21.8% | $232,749 | 20.0% | 29.7% |
| 61 | Dumfries | 44.07 | 5,816 | 5.0% | $596,416 | 7.0% | 49.7% |
| 62 | Manassas Park | 47.21 | 16,798 | 5.1% | $462,197 | 6.0% | 37.7% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 62 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – The Happiest Cities In Virginia
As we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in Virginia is usually a subjective matter.
But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.
The happiest cities in Virginia are Blacksburg, Abingdon, Charlottesville, Lexington, Christiansburg, Wytheville, Buena Vista, Ashland, Bridgewater, and Farmville. Not sold on Virginia? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Happiest Places In Virginia FAQs
What is the happiest place in Virginia?
Blacksburg is the happiest place in Virginia for 2026. 6.0% of its households are married and its poverty rate is just 42.7%.
What are the happiest places in Virginia?
The happiest places in Virginia are Blacksburg, Abingdon, Charlottesville, Lexington, Christiansburg, Wytheville, Buena Vista, Ashland, Bridgewater, and Farmville. We ranked all 62 places with more than 5,000 residents across seven happiness criteria.
How can you measure happiness?
You cannot poll feelings at scale, so we use the Census proxies research ties to well-being: marriage rates, home values, poverty, and the share of households with kids. Seven criteria total, all from the American Community Survey.
Why does Blacksburg rank so happy?
Blacksburg scores well across the board: 6.0% of households are married, the median home is worth $420,779, and only 42.7% of residents live below the poverty line.
What is the most miserable place in Virginia?
Manassas Park lands at the bottom of the Happy Index for Virginia. The same seven criteria that lifted Blacksburg to the top put Manassas Park last.
