Scores by category

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

Safety40#9,311/15,637
Economy26#11,574/15,631
Housing70#4,552/14,977
Health17#12,891/15,609
Healthcare12#13,777/15,650
Environment84#2,544/15,453
Education77#3,601/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,522/15,650
Community17#13,036/15,651
Leisure & amenities21#12,358/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Blackstone, Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Nottoway 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

Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100Virginia 13.2 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100k2024Centers for Disease Control and PreventionNottoway County value
Child care cost burden · low19.6%
95/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNottoway County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Virginia 4.3 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataNottoway County value
Social associations · high15.4 /10k
92/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNottoway County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.45%
91/100Virginia 0.78%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Public libraries · high1.9 /10k
90/100Virginia 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesNottoway County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.6 /10k
1/100Virginia 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNottoway County value
Broadband subscriptions · low66.5%
2/100Virginia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an emergency room · high21.3 mi
2/100Virginia 5.8 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesNottoway County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsNottoway County value
Food environment index · low6.1
4/100Virginia 8.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteNottoway County value
Adult obesity · high44.7%
5/100Virginia 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.

Child poverty rateWorsening
15.6% (2015-2019) → 41.9% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
32.6% (2015-2019) → 48.4% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateWorsening
13.0% (2015-2019) → 26.6% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Income inequality (Gini index)Improving
0.642 (2015-2019) → 0.444 (2020-2024)
−31%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
High school diploma or higherImproving
75.0% (2015-2019) → 80.8% (2020-2024)
+5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
12.2% (2015-2019) → 7.2% (2020-2024)
−5 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Blackstone, Virginia improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Blackstone, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.4 min2015-2019	24.5 min2020-2024	−4.9 min	Within the margin of error	89%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%2015-2019	17.6%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Broadband subscriptions	70.4%2015-2019	66.5%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Effective property tax rate	0.53%2015-2019	0.45%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
High school diploma or higher	75.0%2015-2019	80.8%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	−0.6×	Within the margin of error	95%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.6422015-2019	0.4442020-2024	−0.198	Within the margin of error	100%
Median household income	$46,5412015-2019	$54,5702020-2024	+17%	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent as share of income	25.8%2015-2019	28.2%2020-2024	+2.4 points	Within the margin of error	37%
Rent-burdened households	32.6%2015-2019	48.4%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.2%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	−5 points	Within the margin of error	87%

“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 Blackstone, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Blackstone, 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, Blackstone, Virginia itself moved +2.5 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

3,341 residents (±14)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 40–49 women (+4.9 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

3,341 residents (±14)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

White31%1,024
Black50%1,669
Hispanic or Latino12%†389

Education

2,193 residents (±165)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

No high school diploma19%†422
High school or GED35%761
Some college22%†472

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

1,407 households (±124)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k23%†318
$25k–50k25%†351
$50k–75k20%†283
$75k–100k6.6%†93
$100k–150k14%†204
$150k–200k9.3%†131
$200k or more1.9%†27

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−21.3 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,407 households (±124)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Own58%819
Rent42%588

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

531 households (±133)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $75023%†120
$750–1,00023%†120
$1,000–1,50037%†197

Home values

819 homes (±154)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $150k54%†446
$150k–250k13%†110
$250k–400k13%†109

Age of homes

1,723 homes (±166)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

2010 or later6.6%†113
2000–20097.2%†124
1980–199917%†289

Size of homes

1,723 homes (±166)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Studio1.5%†26
1 bedroom12%†200
2 bedrooms31%†533

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,289 workers (±209)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone85%1,099
Carpool11%†141
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home2.4%†31
Other1.4%†18

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,258 workers (±200)

Blackstone, Virginia
Virginia share

Under 15 min43%†539
15–29 min21%†267
30–44 min13%†162

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Nottoway County, the county holding most of Blackstone's residents.

Nottoway County has 299 employer establishments, 192 for every 10,000 residents (0.77× the US rate of 248; 0.79× Virginia's), with 2,991 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,304. The Census Bureau also counts 818 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 299; 818 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 192; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 2,991
Average annual pay: $43,304; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	25	16	0.87×About typical	243	$21,490	7
Religious organizations	24	15.4	2.78×More than typical	84	$12,083	—
Specialty trade contractors	21	13.5	0.87×About typical	89	$55,742	90
Ambulatory health care services	20	12.8	0.62×Fewer than typical	231	$53,961	35
Full-service restaurants	13	8.3	1.09×About typical	100	$24,100	4
Building equipment contractors	12	7.7	1.28×More than typical	50	$65,400	13
Limited-service restaurants	12	7.7	0.96×About typical	143	$19,664	3
Automotive repair and maintenance	11	7.1	1.40×More than typical	38	$56,395	18
Gasoline stations	11	7.1	2.18×More than typical	93	$19,473	—
Banks and credit unions	9	5.8	1.79×Too few to compare	72	$60,222	—
Construction of buildings	9	5.8	0.76×Too few to compare	13	$32,000	29
General merchandise stores	9	5.8	3.27×Too few to compare	214	$31,023	12

Rank places for an industry Open Nottoway County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 15,581 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 $540.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Blackstone, Virginia: $162 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $540.9K; −86% vs FY2025
Per resident: $162; US $1,994
Sole-source: 68%; US 30%
Single offer: 20%; 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

Department of State$366.6K68%
Department of the Army$92.7K17%
Defense Logistics Agency$76.8K14%
Department of Veterans Affairs$30K5.5%
U.S. Coast Guard$19.5K3.6%
Department of the Navy$14.9K2.8%
U.S. Special Operations Command$6,7531.2%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

3.5MFY2017
1.5MFY2018
1.3MFY2019
894.6KFY2020
500.6KFY2021
479.6KFY2022
487KFY2023
959.2K

Top industries (NAICS)

Facilities support services · 5612$364K67%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$83.8K15%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$42.8K7.9%
Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$30K5.5%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$6,7531.2%
Other schools and instruction · 6116

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 Blackstone, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Blackstone, Virginia's figures are part of those of Nottoway County, VA ($18M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Nottoway 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.

Blackstone, Virginia is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

John J. McGuire IIIR-VA-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.6%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

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

Nottoway County30100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Nottoway 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/5107832

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends