Town · Bedford County, Virginia

Bedford, Virginia

Bedford is a town in Bedford County, Virginia, part of the Lynchburg, VA metro area. It has 7,724 residents. Bedford, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 51 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,697 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #262 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), hospital quality rating (high) and voter turnout (high). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), grocery stores (low) and frequent mental distress (high).

51Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,697 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #262 of 375 in VA
Population: 7,724 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 696.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 5105544

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety67#5,117/15,637
Economy46#8,436/15,631
Housing77#3,399/14,977
Health26#11,626/15,609
Healthcare24#11,928/15,650
Environment91#1,466/15,453
Education77#3,620/15,649
Infrastructure9#14,194/15,650
Community74#4,101/15,651
Leisure & amenities5#14,900/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bedford, Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bedford County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child care cost burden · low18.0%
98/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBedford County value
Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Virginia 3.7United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBedford County value
Voter turnout · high79.8%
95/100Virginia 70.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionBedford County value
Food environment index · high9.2
92/100Virginia 8.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBedford County value
Job growth · high1.9%
87/100Virginia -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBedford County value
Property crime rate · low554 /100k
87/100Virginia 1,354 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationBedford County value

Weaknesses

Drought exposure · high94%
4/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABedford County value
Grocery stores · low0.7 /10k
5/100Virginia 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBedford County value
Frequent mental distress · high21.1%
11/100Virginia 18.6%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Broadband subscriptions · low85.3%
12/100Virginia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.4 /10k
12/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBedford County value
Adult obesity · high42.1%
12/100Virginia 38.3%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
6,562 (2015-2019) → 7,724 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
49.2% (2015-2019) → 15.2% (2020-2024)
−34 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
62.4% (2015-2019) → 41.8% (2020-2024)
−21 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$36,364 (2015-2019) → $70,288 (2020-2024)
+93%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
68.0% (2015-2019) → 85.3% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateImproving
26.8% (2015-2019) → 12.2% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bedford, Virginia improved on 6 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved6

Child poverty−34 points49.2% → 15.2%
Household income+93%$36,364 → $70,288
Poverty−15 points26.8% → 12.2%
Rent burden−21 points62.4% → 41.8%
Bachelor's++10 points17.6% → 27.9%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Bedford, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.5 min2015-2019	20.3 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.6%2015-2019	27.9%2020-2024	+10 points	Improved	91%
Broadband subscriptions	68.0%2015-2019	85.3%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	49.2%2015-2019	15.2%2020-2024	−34 points	Improved	99%
Effective property tax rate	0.68%2015-2019	0.54%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
High school diploma or higher	80.9%2015-2019	90.6%2020-2024	+9.7 points	Within the margin of error	95%
Home price to income ratio	4.0×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	−0.8×	Within the margin of error	97%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4482015-2019	0.4122020-2024	−0.036	Within the margin of error	77%
Median household income	$36,3642015-2019	$70,2882020-2024	+93%	Improved	98%
Poverty rate	26.8%2015-2019	12.2%2020-2024	−15 points	Improved	97%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	34.6%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	−7.7 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Rent-burdened households	62.4%2015-2019	41.8%2020-2024	−21 points	Improved	94%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.4%2015-2019	10.2%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bedford, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bedford, Virginia in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bedford, Virginia itself moved +27 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,724 residents (±21)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,065 households (±358)

Bedford, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k20%†627
$25k–50k15%†467
$50k–75k20%599

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

3,065 households (±358)

Bedford, Virginia
Virginia share

Own69%2,122
Rent31%943

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+22.9 points).

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,408 workers (±381)

Bedford, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone76%2,592
Carpool11%†371
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Lynchburg, VA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bedford County, the county holding most of Bedford's residents.

Bedford County has 1,818 employer establishments, 222 for every 10,000 residents (0.90× the US rate of 248; 0.92× Virginia's), with 16,604 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,030. The Census Bureau also counts 6,550 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,818; 6,550 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 222; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 16,604
Average annual pay: $57,030; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bedford County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	190	23.2	1.50×More than typical	917	$54,325	460
Lessors of real estate	115	14.1	1.14×About typical	270	$39,707	872
Ambulatory health care services	104	12.7	0.61×Fewer than typical	834	$65,560	248
Restaurants and other eating places	95	11.6	0.63×Fewer than typical	1,538	$19,317	16
Construction of buildings	92	11.3	1.49×More than typical	297	$54,889	208
Services to buildings and dwellings	89	10.9	1.61×More than typical	442	$38,765	437
Religious organizations	81	9.9	1.79×More than typical	503	$25,694	—
Building equipment contractors	74	9.1	1.50×More than typical	415	$55,583	86
Real estate agents and brokers	68	8.3	1.71×More than typical	119	$40,261	248
Landscaping services	58	7.1	2.02×More than typical	230	$37,100	193
Full-service restaurants	46	5.6	0.73×Fewer than typical	721	$22,144	7
Automotive repair and maintenance	45	5.5	1.09×About typical	232	$50,138	90

Rank places for an industry Open Bedford County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 81,765 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $267.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bedford, Virginia: $34.61 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $267.3K; +726% vs FY2025
Per resident: $34.61; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 5.4%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Highway Administration$226.7K85%
Department of Veterans Affairs$26.2K9.8%
National Park Service$12.8K4.8%
Department of the Army$1,5980.6%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

75.6KFY2017
63.1KFY2018
69KFY2019
76.1KFY2020
74.5KFY2021
35.2KFY2022
1.4MFY2023
1.1MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$226.7K85%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$25K9.4%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$14.2K5.3%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$1,1870.4%
Natural gas distribution · 2212$1780.1%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing · 5324

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bedford, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Bedford, Virginia's figures are part of those of Bedford County, VA ($8M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.3% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bedford is mostly in Bedford County.

See federal money in Bedford County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bedford, Virginia is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bedford County81100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lynchburg, VA67

Other cities and towns in Bedford County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5105544

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends