City · Covington city, Virginia

Covington, Virginia

Covington is a city in Covington city, Virginia. It has 5,680 residents. Covington, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 40 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,337 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #297 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), access to exercise opportunities (high) and pharmacies (high). It ranks worst on life expectancy (low), premature death (high) and primary care shortage (high).

40Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,337 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #297 of 375 in VA
Population: 5,680 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 1,038.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 5119728

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.

Safety62#5,945/15,637
Economy21#12,349/15,631
Housing72#4,237/14,977
Health3#15,163/15,609
Healthcare35#10,212/15,650
Environment82#2,853/15,453
Education31#10,838/15,649
Infrastructure16#13,112/15,650
Community66#5,365/15,651
Leisure & amenities66#5,279/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Social associations · high30.7 /10k
100/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington city value
Access to exercise opportunities · high100.0%
100/100Virginia 83.8%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington city value
Pharmacies · high5.3 /10k
100/100Virginia 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCovington city value
Traffic deaths · low3.5 /100k
100/100Virginia 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataCovington city value
Restaurants and bars · high17.6 /10k
97/100Virginia 8.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCovington city value
Grocery stores · high3.5 /10k
97/100Virginia 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCovington city value

Weaknesses

Life expectancy · low68.4 yrs
1/100Virginia 77.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington city value
Premature death · high17,501 /100k
2/100Virginia 7,587 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCovington city value
Primary care shortage · high19.0
3/100Virginia 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationCovington city value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCovington city value
Bachelor's degree or higher · low9.5%
6/100Virginia 42.2%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Distance to an airport · high116 mi
6/100Virginia 32 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCovington city value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
0.5 /1k (2021) → 1.6 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+202%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
21.1% (2015-2019) → 42.3% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
13.2% (2015-2019) → 25.7% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
15.6% (2015-2019) → 9.5% (2020-2024)
−6.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.2% (2015-2019) → 82.3% (2020-2024)
+5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
41.8% (2015-2019) → 46.8% (2020-2024)
+5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Covington, Virginia improved on 0 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 3. 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.

Declined3

Poverty+12 points13.2% → 25.7%
Child poverty+21 points21.1% → 42.3%
Bachelor's+−6.1 points15.6% → 9.5%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Covington, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.5 min2015-2019	17.1 min2020-2024	+0.6 min	Within the margin of error	40%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.6%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	−6.1 points	Declined	5%
Broadband subscriptions	77.2%2015-2019	82.3%2020-2024	+5.1 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Child poverty rate	21.1%2015-2019	42.3%2020-2024	+21 points	Declined	4%
Effective property tax rate	0.73%2015-2019	0.86%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	5%
High school diploma or higher	87.3%2015-2019	86.4%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	2.0×2020-2024	+0.2×	Within the margin of error	68%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4482015-2019	0.4022020-2024	−0.046	Within the margin of error	82%
Median household income	$40,6552015-2019	$41,9442020-2024	+3.2%	Within the margin of error	10%
Poverty rate	13.2%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	+12 points	Declined	2%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.8%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Rent-burdened households	41.8%2015-2019	46.8%2020-2024	+5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.5%2015-2019	8.7%2020-2024	−3.8 points	Within the margin of error	81%

“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 Covington, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Covington, 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, Covington, Virginia itself moved −8 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

5,680 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

2,576 households (±118)

Covington, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k27%690
$25k–50k32%813
$50k–75k15%†393

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,576 households (±118)

Covington, Virginia
Virginia share

Own70%1,806
Rent30%770

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,015 workers (±219)

Covington, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone88%1,770
Carpool3.2%†64
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 Covington city, the county holding most of Covington's residents.

Covington city has 197 employer establishments, 352 for every 10,000 residents (1.42× the US rate of 248; 1.46× Virginia's), with 3,344 paid employees at an average annual pay of $65,033. The Census Bureau also counts 288 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 197; 288 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 352; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 3,344
Average annual pay: $65,033; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	17	30.4	5.47×More than typical	57	$15,842	—
Restaurants and other eating places	16	28.6	1.56×More than typical	216	$18,870	5
Specialty trade contractors	13	23.2	1.50×More than typical	284	$60,532	14
Ambulatory health care services	10	17.9	0.86×About typical	79	$46,633	—
Full-service restaurants	9	16.1	2.09×Too few to compare	51	$20,157	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	7	12.5	2.48×Too few to compare	24	$35,708	6
Lessors of real estate	7	12.5	1.01×Too few to compare	11	$20,818	29
Limited-service restaurants	7	12.5	1.56×Too few to compare	165	$18,473	—
Banks and credit unions	6	10.7	3.32×Too few to compare	57	$57,544	—
Building equipment contractors	6	10.7	1.78×Too few to compare	252	$59,155	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	6	10.7	2.44×Too few to compare	22	$45,227	4
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	5	8.9	2.19×Too few to compare	15	$19,267	—

Rank places for an industry Open Covington city

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 5,600 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 $28.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Covington, Virginia: $5.03 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $28.6K; −47% vs FY2025
Per resident: $5.03; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 19%; 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 the Army$28.6K100%

Top recipients

FORTAZO CORP.$23K81%
TK ELEVATOR CORPORATION$5,54619%

Spending by fiscal year

42.7KFY2017
34KFY2018
19.2KFY2019
16.3KFY2020
32.1KFY2021
39.3KFY2022
45.6KFY2023
30.3K

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$23K81%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$5,54619%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Covington, Virginia

BASE YEAR JANITORIAL SERVICES AT GATHRIGHT DAM$121.9K
FORTAZO CORP.· Covington city, VA· Facilities & utilities· May 3, 2022 – Jan 30, 2026· W9123622P5009
BASE YEAR ELEVATOR SERVICES GATHRIGHT DAM, VIRIGNIA$20.7K
TK ELEVATOR CORPORATION· Covington city, VA· Equipment maintenance· Jan 3, 2023 – Oct 10, 2025· W9123623F5018

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

Covington, Virginia's figures are part of those of Covington city, VA ($28.6K 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: Covington is mostly in Covington city.

See federal money in Covington 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.

Covington, 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.

Covington city48100% 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/5119728

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends