There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Virginia that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.
Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Old Dominion are so lucky.
Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Virginia’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.
Like Poquoson, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Virginia according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Poquoson. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Virginia as well.
Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.
41.2 median age · 34.0% married households · #10 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Poquoson city, Virginia
Poquoson is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,150. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Poquoson with surrounding York County for statistical purposes.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
46.1 median age · 27.0% married households · #3 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Wythe County, Virginia
Wytheville is a town in, and the county seat of, Wythe County, Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville’s population was 8,211 at the 2010 census. Located at the intersection of Interstate Highways 77 and 81, the town has long been a crossroads for travelers. During the American Civil War, Wytheville had a strategic importance, and was attacked in 1863 and 1865. The town is also the birthplace of Edith Bolling Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
46.3 median age · 25.0% married households · #2 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
44.5 median age · 38.0% married households · #5 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Tazewell County, Virginia
Richlands is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,823 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
41.0 median age · 24.0% married households · #11 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Wise County, Virginia
Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,643 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
38.7 median age · 21.0% married households · #18 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Suffolk city, Virginia
Suffolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2014 census, the estimated population was 86,806 It is the largest city in Virginia by area as well as the 14th largest in the country.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
46.4 median age · 25.0% married households · #1 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Washington County, Virginia
Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, 133 miles southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,191 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and features a fine arts and crafts scene centered on the galleries and museums along Main Street.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
38.5 median age · 29.0% married households · #19 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Pulaski County, Virginia
Pulaski is a town in Pulaski County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,086 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
38.3 median age · 26.0% married households · #22 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Franklin city, Virginia
Franklin is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,582. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Franklin with Southampton County for statistical purposes.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
44.2 median age · 17.0% married households · #6 oldest in Virginia
Located in
Halifax County, Virginia
South Boston, formerly Boyd’s Ferry, is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.
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.
On the map
Where the quiet settles in Virginia
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Old Dominion
You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in Virginia. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.
Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.
To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.
We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. Some of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:
- % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
- % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
- Average Age (higher is more boring)
- % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
- Population density (lower is more boring)
Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.
For this ranking, we used every Virginia city with at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.
Grab your rocker and hold on.
We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the most boring cities in Virginia.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In Virginia For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Boring Score | Population | Average Age | % Married | % Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poquoson | 7.80 | 12,639 | 41.2 | 34.0% | 38.7% |
| 2 | Wytheville | 11.50 | 8,202 | 46.1 | 27.0% | 24.9% |
| 3 | Smithfield | 12.50 | 8,834 | 46.3 | 25.0% | 25.2% |
| 4 | Richlands | 13.20 | 5,171 | 44.5 | 38.0% | 27.2% |
| 5 | Big Stone Gap | 13.30 | 5,162 | 41.0 | 24.0% | 31.5% |
| 6 | Suffolk | 15.40 | 98,796 | 38.7 | 21.0% | 32.9% |
| 7 | Abingdon | 16.70 | 8,330 | 46.4 | 25.0% | 19.3% |
| 8 | Pulaski | 16.80 | 8,893 | 38.5 | 29.0% | 26.6% |
| 9 | Franklin | 17.40 | 8,250 | 38.3 | 26.0% | 34.4% |
| 10 | South Boston | 18.20 | 7,853 | 44.2 | 17.0% | 27.9% |
| 11 | Chesapeake | 18.20 | 252,583 | 37.9 | 20.0% | 35.7% |
| 12 | Marion | 18.90 | 5,670 | 44.8 | 27.0% | 23.6% |
| 13 | Galax | 19.10 | 6,726 | 42.9 | 24.0% | 27.4% |
| 14 | Christiansburg | 19.50 | 22,720 | 39.2 | 25.0% | 26.1% |
| 15 | Front Royal | 22.40 | 15,296 | 37.7 | 18.0% | 33.0% |
| 16 | Waynesboro | 22.80 | 22,841 | 38.3 | 20.0% | 26.8% |
| 17 | Colonial Heights | 23.40 | 18,352 | 38.2 | 22.0% | 34.5% |
| 18 | Danville | 23.50 | 42,214 | 40.4 | 20.0% | 21.7% |
| 19 | Emporia | 23.80 | 5,547 | 36.6 | 19.0% | 37.3% |
| 20 | Bristol | 23.90 | 16,849 | 43.4 | 16.0% | 23.1% |
| 21 | Staunton | 24.30 | 25,948 | 39.9 | 19.0% | 22.7% |
| 22 | Covington | 24.50 | 5,680 | 38.0 | 25.0% | 25.4% |
| 23 | Salem | 25.10 | 25,618 | 40.0 | 26.0% | 26.7% |
| 24 | Orange | 26.70 | 5,066 | 38.3 | 17.0% | 25.0% |
| 25 | Vinton | 27.00 | 8,056 | 37.2 | 23.0% | 36.6% |
| 26 | Virginia Beach | 27.70 | 456,349 | 37.9 | 14.0% | 31.5% |
| 27 | Buena Vista | 28.30 | 6,593 | 35.9 | 32.0% | 26.1% |
| 28 | Martinsville | 30.10 | 13,658 | 38.4 | 18.0% | 25.5% |
| 29 | Vienna | 30.20 | 16,412 | 41.7 | 7.0% | 43.6% |
| 30 | Strasburg | 30.30 | 7,214 | 36.0 | 22.0% | 29.5% |
| 31 | Woodstock | 30.40 | 5,871 | 35.2 | 17.0% | 41.4% |
| 32 | Hopewell | 30.50 | 22,959 | 37.5 | 20.0% | 29.7% |
| 33 | Roanoke | 30.60 | 98,355 | 38.3 | 18.0% | 23.7% |
| 34 | Warrenton | 31.80 | 10,176 | 40.2 | 14.0% | 24.7% |
| 35 | Hampton | 32.60 | 137,557 | 36.8 | 16.0% | 28.9% |
| 36 | Portsmouth | 33.20 | 97,190 | 35.9 | 18.0% | 30.5% |
| 37 | Falls Church | 33.30 | 14,710 | 40.5 | 8.0% | 30.2% |
| 38 | Purcellville | 36.10 | 8,973 | 36.0 | 11.0% | 42.2% |
| 39 | Leesburg | 37.10 | 49,171 | 36.1 | 9.0% | 41.5% |
| 40 | Culpeper | 37.60 | 20,794 | 32.5 | 15.0% | 42.1% |
| 41 | Ashland | 38.60 | 7,772 | 30.6 | 15.0% | 26.4% |
| 42 | Petersburg | 38.60 | 33,537 | 35.8 | 14.0% | 19.9% |
| 43 | Bridgewater | 38.80 | 6,708 | 31.4 | 22.0% | 27.8% |
| 44 | Winchester | 39.50 | 27,913 | 36.8 | 15.0% | 24.3% |
| 45 | Manassas Park | 40.00 | 16,798 | 36.5 | 6.0% | 37.7% |
| 46 | Newport News | 41.10 | 184,216 | 34.4 | 13.0% | 28.8% |
| 47 | Dumfries | 41.20 | 5,816 | 33.3 | 7.0% | 49.7% |
| 48 | Manassas | 41.50 | 42,976 | 34.8 | 9.0% | 38.3% |
| 49 | Alexandria | 41.90 | 156,976 | 37.7 | 4.0% | 20.6% |
| 50 | Richmond | 41.90 | 229,359 | 34.7 | 13.0% | 20.1% |
| 51 | Fairfax | 42.10 | 25,026 | 36.6 | 7.0% | 29.8% |
| 52 | Herndon | 42.40 | 24,672 | 35.1 | 5.0% | 35.2% |
| 53 | Lynchburg | 44.00 | 79,497 | 28.6 | 15.0% | 24.9% |
| 54 | Norfolk | 46.60 | 233,596 | 32.7 | 11.0% | 27.0% |
| 55 | Harrisonburg | 47.50 | 51,392 | 25.0 | 10.0% | 28.2% |
| 56 | Farmville | 47.80 | 7,774 | 24.8 | 12.0% | 15.0% |
| 57 | Fredericksburg | 48.80 | 28,873 | 32.1 | 11.0% | 23.0% |
| 58 | Radford | 49.20 | 16,726 | 23.3 | 15.0% | 19.6% |
| 59 | Charlottesville | 50.50 | 45,437 | 33.1 | 10.0% | 23.5% |
| 60 | Williamsburg | 51.50 | 15,798 | 23.7 | 8.0% | 19.8% |
| 61 | Blacksburg | 55.80 | 45,446 | 21.9 | 6.0% | 18.0% |
| 62 | Lexington | 58.00 | 7,525 | 22.6 | 6.0% | 15.7% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 62 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since Virginia isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.
The most boring cities in Virginia are Poquoson, Wytheville, Smithfield, Richlands, Big Stone Gap, Suffolk, Abingdon, Pulaski, Franklin, and South Boston.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in Virginia, according to science. Not sold on Virginia? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Boring Places In Virginia FAQs
What is the most boring place in Virginia?
Poquoson is the most boring place in Virginia for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. 34.0% of its households are married, which is exactly the kind of statistic that earns boring points.
What are the most boring cities in Virginia?
The most boring places in Virginia are Poquoson, Wytheville, Smithfield, Richlands, Big Stone Gap, Suffolk, Abingdon, Pulaski, Franklin, and South Boston. We ranked all 62 places with more than 5,000 residents.
What makes a town boring?
Older residents, lots of married households, lots of families with kids, and low population density. In other words, quiet — measured with Census American Community Survey data.
What is the most exciting place in Virginia?
Lexington sits at the other end of the Boring Score, making it the most exciting place in Virginia by our measure. Interpret that however you like.
Is being boring bad?
Not really. The traits that score boring points — settled neighbors, families, quiet streets — are the same things plenty of people move for. Take this as Saturday Night Science, not a verdict.
