Census-designated place · Russell County, Virginia

Castlewood, Virginia

Castlewood is a census-designated place in Russell County, Virginia. It has 1,357 residents. Castlewood, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 26 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,656 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #351 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on effective property tax rate (low), hot days (low) and math scores (high). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), dentists (low) and mental health care shortage (high).

26Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,656 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #351 of 375 in VA
Population: 1,357 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 188.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 5113512

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety37#9,756/15,637
Economy57#6,739/15,631
Housing70#4,464/14,977
Health7#14,457/15,609
Healthcare12#13,818/15,650
Environment98#267/15,453
Education49#7,956/15,649
Infrastructure1#15,465/15,650
Community18#12,784/15,651
Leisure & amenities0#15,590/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Effective property tax rate · low0.40%
94/100Virginia 0.78%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Hot days · low3 days
92/100Virginia 20 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationRussell County value
Math scores · high3.43
92/100Virginia 3.27United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRussell County value
Job growth · high2.3%
90/100Virginia -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataRussell County value
Unemployment rate · low1.3%
90/100Virginia 3.4%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Child care cost burden · low22.2%
88/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRussell County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low0.4 /10k
1/100Virginia 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRussell County value
Dentists · low12 /100k
1/100Virginia 76 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRussell County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
4/100Virginia 14.8United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRussell County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRussell County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.0 /10k
5/100Virginia 8.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRussell County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Virginia 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationRussell County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,785 (2015-2019) → 1,357 (2020-2024)
−24%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
51.3% (2015-2019) → 15.9% (2020-2024)
−35 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateImproving
35.4% (2015-2019) → 10.9% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 29.9% (2020-2024)
−21 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
62.7% (2015-2019) → 49.4% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$37,950 (2015-2019) → $60,592 (2020-2024)
+60%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Castlewood, Virginia improved on 0 of 8 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Castlewood, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	25.9 min2015-2019	26.7 min2020-2024	+0.8 min	Within the margin of error	39%
Broadband subscriptions	66.4%2015-2019	74.3%2020-2024	+8 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Effective property tax rate	0.74%2015-2019	0.40%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	79%
High school diploma or higher	82.7%2015-2019	87.1%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4512015-2019	0.3892020-2024	−0.062	Within the margin of error	88%
Median household income	$37,9502015-2019	$60,5922020-2024	+60%	Within the margin of error	91%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“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 Castlewood, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Castlewood, 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, Castlewood, Virginia itself moved +10.9 points in standing on average over the same 7 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

1,357 residents (±349)

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: 60–69 men (+11.9 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

1,357 residents (±349)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

White99.9%1,355
Black0.1%†1
Hispanic or Latino0.0%0

Education

1,156 residents (±311)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

No high school diploma13%†149
High school or GED43%†502
Some college19%†

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

650 households (±177)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k18%†119
$25k–50k30%†197
$50k–75k18%†117
$75k–100k15%†97
$100k–150k11%†71
$150k–200k5.4%†35
$200k or more2.2%†14

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under $25k (−21.6 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

650 households (±177)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Own84%†549
Rent16%†101

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+18.8 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 B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

83 households (±66)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $75081%†67
$750–1,00019%†16
$1,000–1,5000.0%0

Home values

549 homes (±169)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $150k46%†251
$150k–250k44%†239
$250k–400k7.1%†39

Age of homes

852 homes (±208)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

2010 or later5.5%†47
2000–20095.3%†45
1980–199938%†326

Size of homes

852 homes (±208)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom7.2%†61
2 bedrooms31%†260

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

543 workers (±215)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone81%†438
Carpool11%†62
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home7.9%†43
Other0.0%0

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

500 workers (±202)

Castlewood, Virginia
Virginia share

Under 15 min26%†129
15–29 min25%†127
30–44 min34%†172

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 Russell County, the county holding most of Castlewood's residents.

Russell County has 436 employer establishments, 171 for every 10,000 residents (0.69× the US rate of 248; 0.71× Virginia's), with 5,324 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,222. The Census Bureau also counts 1,298 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 436; 1,298 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 171; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 5,324
Average annual pay: $43,222; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	53	20.8	1.00×About typical	444	$58,432	49
Restaurants and other eating places	29	11.4	0.62×Fewer than typical	447	$18,886	5
Truck transportation	29	11.4	2.25×More than typical	117	$55,803	50
Specialty trade contractors	24	9.4	0.61×Fewer than typical	257	$53,482	112
Offices of physicians	17	6.7	1.03×About typical	112	$62,580	8
Religious organizations	17	6.7	1.20×About typical	70	$16,557	—
Gasoline stations	16	6.3	1.94×More than typical	146	$29,014	—
Full-service restaurants	14	5.5	0.71×Fewer than typical	201	$13,592	—
Limited-service restaurants	14	5.5	0.68×Fewer than typical	246	$23,179	4
Banks and credit unions	13	5.1	1.58×More than typical	135	$50,770	—
Outpatient care centers	12	4.7	2.56×More than typical	135	$80,244	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	11	4.3	0.86×About typical	54	$17,944	45

Rank places for an industry Open Russell County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 25,501 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Castlewood, Virginia: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Spending by fiscal year

23.9FY2019

What was bought

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

Castlewood, Virginia's figures are part of those of Russell County, VA ($39.9M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Russell 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.

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

House

H. Morgan GriffithR-VA-9 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.3%

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.

Russell County32100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Russell 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/5113512