City · Buena Vista city, Virginia

Buena Vista, Virginia

Buena Vista is a city in Buena Vista city, Virginia. It has 6,593 residents. Buena Vista, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 45 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #8,588 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #279 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), job growth (high) and traffic deaths (low). It ranks worst on food environment index (low), drought exposure (high) and primary care physicians (low).

45Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #8,588 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #279 of 375 in VA
Population: 6,593 (2020-2024)
Land area: 6 mi²
Density: 1,024.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 5111032

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety89#1,661/15,637
Economy43#8,924/15,631
Housing58#6,254/14,977
Health18#12,834/15,609
Healthcare22#12,178/15,650
Environment61#6,029/15,453
Education68#4,963/15,649
Infrastructure34#10,378/15,650
Community34#10,404/15,651
Leisure & amenities47#8,322/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high4.5 /10k
100/100Virginia 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBuena Vista city value
Job growth · high9.7%
100/100Virginia -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBuena Vista city value
Traffic deaths · low3.0 /100k
100/100Virginia 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataBuena Vista city value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Virginia 4.3 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBuena Vista city value
Unemployment rate · low1.4%
88/100Virginia 3.4%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Average commute time · low17.4 min
88/100Virginia 27.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Food environment index · low2.6
0/100Virginia 8.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBuena Vista city value
Drought exposure · high100%
1/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABuena Vista city value
Primary care physicians · low15 /100k
2/100Virginia 76 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBuena Vista city value
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.5 /10k
6/100Virginia 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBuena Vista city value
Distance to an airport · high112 mi
7/100Virginia 32 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBuena Vista city value
Life expectancy · low72.6 yrs
10/100Virginia 77.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBuena Vista city value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.7% (2015-2019) → 86.6% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$32,455 (2015-2019) → $57,833 (2020-2024)
+78%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
61.9% (2015-2019) → 49.2% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
1.2 /1k (2021) → 0.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−50%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
13.3% (2015-2019) → 5.3% (2020-2024)
−8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateImproving
33.6% (2015-2019) → 26.0% (2020-2024)
−7.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Buena Vista, Virginia improved on 5 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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.

Improved5

Household income+78%$32,455 → $57,833
Uninsured−8 points13.3% → 5.3%
Inequality−0.0970.494 → 0.398
Broadband+17 points69.7% → 86.6%
Bachelor's++7.4 points15.9% → 23.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Buena Vista, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.7 min2015-2019	17.4 min2020-2024	−1.4 min	Within the margin of error	64%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.9%2015-2019	23.3%2020-2024	+7.4 points	Improved	81%
Broadband subscriptions	69.7%2015-2019	86.6%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Child poverty rate	33.6%2015-2019	26.0%2020-2024	−7.6 points	Within the margin of error	77%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.88%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
High school diploma or higher	81.1%2015-2019	87.9%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	−1.2×	Within the margin of error	98%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4942015-2019	0.3982020-2024	−0.097	Improved	95%
Median household income	$32,4552015-2019	$57,8332020-2024	+78%	Improved	96%
Poverty rate	25.5%2015-2019	18.8%2020-2024	−6.7 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	32.7%2015-2019	29.7%2020-2024	−3 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Rent-burdened households	61.9%2015-2019	49.2%2020-2024	−13 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.3%2015-2019	5.3%2020-2024	−8 points	Improved	94%

“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 Buena Vista, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Buena Vista, 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, Buena Vista, Virginia itself moved +22.6 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

6,593 residents

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

2,554 households (±153)

Buena Vista, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k22%560
$25k–50k19%†497
$50k–75k29%732

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,554 households (±153)

Buena Vista, Virginia
Virginia share

Own56%1,443
Rent44%1,111

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−11.5 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,769 workers (±292)

Buena Vista, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone77%2,120
Carpool10%†278
Public transit0.0%0

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 Buena Vista city, the county holding most of Buena Vista's residents.

Buena Vista city has 109 employer establishments, 166 for every 10,000 residents (0.67× the US rate of 248; 0.69× Virginia's), with 2,141 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,060. The Census Bureau also counts 351 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 109; 351 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 166; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 2,141
Average annual pay: $42,060; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Buena Vista city by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	9	13.7	0.74×Too few to compare	127	$22,748	5
Ambulatory health care services	8	12.2	0.58×Too few to compare	46	$52,717	7
Religious organizations	8	12.2	2.19×Too few to compare	19	$15,211	—
Full-service restaurants	5	7.6	0.99×Too few to compare	34	$27,353	3
Gasoline stations	4	6.1	1.88×Too few to compare	38	$19,816	—
Lessors of real estate	4	6.1	0.49×Too few to compare	7	$48,714	26
Limited-service restaurants	4	6.1	0.76×Too few to compare	93	$21,065	—
Specialty trade contractors	4	6.1	0.39×Too few to compare	9	$38,556	33
Auto parts, accessories and tire stores	3	4.6	2.61×Too few to compare	15	$27,400	—
Banks and credit unions	3	4.6	1.41×Too few to compare	16	$47,063	—
Building finishing contractors	3	4.6	1.20×Too few to compare	3	$29,667	13
Construction of buildings	3	4.6	0.60×Too few to compare	4	$37,000	18

Rank places for an industry Open Buena Vista city

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 6,578 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 $507.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Buena Vista, Virginia: $76.98 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $507.5K; +70% vs FY2025
Per resident: $76.98; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 11%; 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

Top recipients

SAYRE ENTERPRISES INC$498.8K98%
SAVE AGAIN.COM$8,6831.7%

Spending by fiscal year

710.4KFY2017
779.3KFY2018
991KFY2019
2.2MFY2020
533KFY2021
721.1KFY2022
214KFY2023
219.4K

Top industries (NAICS)

Apparel accessories and other apparel manufacturing · 3159$442.2K87%
Other food manufacturing · 3119$56.6K11%
Other wood product manufacturing · 3219$8,6831.7%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Buena Vista, Virginia

8511963349!BELT,HIGH VISIBILITY - LIMEYE$383.6K
SAYRE ENTERPRISES INC· Buena Vista city, VA· Other equipment & supplies· Mar 11, 2026 – Mar 11, 2026· SPE1C126F2952
8512117782!BELT,HIGH VISIBILITY - LIMEYE$59.4K
SAYRE ENTERPRISES INC· Buena Vista city, VA· Other equipment & supplies· May 15, 2026 – May 15, 2026· SPE1C126F4318
HERITAGE SHED FOR THE GLENWOOD-PEDLAR WORK CENTER$8,699
SAVE AGAIN.COM· Buena Vista city, VA· Other equipment & supplies· Jul 20, 2026 – Jul 20, 2026· 12444026P0130
BELT, HIGH VISIBILITY: DAYTIME & NIGHTTIME. 2" WIDE AND FROM 28 IN. TO 54 IN. LONG. NEON YELLOW FLUORESCENT ELASTIC MATERIAL WITH BAND OF SILVER MATERIAL TO THE MIDDLE.

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 Buena Vista, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Buena Vista, Virginia's figures are part of those of Buena Vista city, VA ($508.4K in FY2026), never added to them: 99.8% of that total.

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

See federal money in Buena Vista city

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.

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

House

Ben ClineR-VA-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.0%

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.

Buena Vista city51100% of residents

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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/5111032

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends