Town · Augusta County, Virginia

Craigsville, Virginia

Craigsville is a town in Augusta County, Virginia, part of the Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA metro area. It has 1,104 residents. Craigsville, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 33 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,494 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #328 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on primary care shortage (low), violent crime rate (low) and drug overdose deaths (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), restaurants and bars (low) and broadband subscriptions (low).

33Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,494 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #328 of 375 in VA
Population: 1,104 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 534.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 5119904

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.

Safety66#5,368/15,637
Economy16#13,200/15,631
Housing51#7,346/14,977
Health31#10,698/15,609
Healthcare34#10,407/15,650
Environment95#845/15,453
Education49#7,940/15,649
Infrastructure3#15,244/15,650
Community50#7,900/15,651
Leisure & amenities3#15,109/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Virginia 6.6United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationAugusta County value
Violent crime rate · low87 /100k
89/100Virginia 206 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationAugusta County value
Drug overdose deaths · low8.1 /100k
89/100Virginia 12.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataAugusta County value
Child care cost burden · low22.5%
86/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAugusta County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Virginia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAugusta County value
Mammography screening · high53.0%
85/100Virginia 47.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAugusta County value

Weaknesses

Drought exposure · high98%
3/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAugusta County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.2 /10k
5/100Virginia 8.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAugusta County value
Broadband subscriptions · low77.3%
7/100Virginia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Frequent mental distress · high21.7%
7/100Virginia 18.6%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Bachelor's degree or higher · low9.5%
7/100Virginia 42.2%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.8 /10k
8/100Virginia 4.6 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAugusta County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
687 (2015-2019) → 1,104 (2020-2024)
+61%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
27.8% (2015-2019) → 48.5% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
63.6% (2015-2019) → 77.3% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
20.2% (2015-2019) → 29.7% (2020-2024)
+9.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateWorsening
37.0% (2015-2019) → 45.2% (2020-2024)
+8.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
27.1 min (2015-2019) → 32.8 min (2020-2024)
+21%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, Craigsville, Virginia improved on 1 of 10 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.

Improved1

Broadband+14 points63.6% → 77.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Craigsville, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	27.1 min2015-2019	32.8 min2020-2024	+5.7 min	Within the margin of error	8%
Broadband subscriptions	63.6%2015-2019	77.3%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	75%
High school diploma or higher	77.3%2015-2019	76.2%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Home price to income ratio	4.4×2015-2019	4.5×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	76%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4342015-2019	0.4592020-2024	+0.025	Within the margin of error	30%
Median household income	$33,3802015-2019	$39,6092020-2024	+19%	Within the margin of error	30%
Poverty rate	27.8%2015-2019	29.2%2020-2024	+1.4 points	Within the margin of error	31%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	20.2%2015-2019	29.7%2020-2024	+9.5 points	Within the margin of error	10%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.4%2015-2019	11.4%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	35%

“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 Craigsville, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Craigsville, 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.

No place that looked like Craigsville, Virginia five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Craigsville, Virginia itself moved −12.1 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

1,104 residents (±308)

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

515 households (±154)

Craigsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k39%†201
$25k–50k22%†113
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

515 households (±154)

Craigsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Own44%†229
Rent56%†286

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

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

415 workers (±126)

Craigsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone90%†373
Carpool8.0%†33
Public transit

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 Staunton-Stuarts Draft, 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 Augusta County, the county holding most of Craigsville's residents.

Augusta County has 1,439 employer establishments, 184 for every 10,000 residents (0.74× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Virginia's), with 22,743 paid employees at an average annual pay of $55,717. The Census Bureau also counts 5,454 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,439; 5,454 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 184; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 22,743
Average annual pay: $55,717; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	168	21.4	1.39×More than typical	1,406	$66,772	442
Construction of buildings	92	11.7	1.55×More than typical	308	$43,526	225
Religious organizations	90	11.5	2.07×More than typical	434	$20,541	—
Ambulatory health care services	79	10.1	0.48×Fewer than typical	1,308	$99,972	156
Lessors of real estate	73	9.3	0.76×Fewer than typical	158	$38,171	624
Restaurants and other eating places	70	8.9	0.49×Fewer than typical	1,123	$19,968	11
Services to buildings and dwellings	70	8.9	1.33×More than typical	424	$39,422	438
Truck transportation	62	7.9	1.57×More than typical	869	$64,830	138
Building equipment contractors	60	7.7	1.27×More than typical	856	$77,447	78
Landscaping services	46	5.9	1.68×More than typical	231	$51,749	182
Other specialty trade contractors	46	5.9	2.34×More than typical	312	$55,301	143
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	39	5	1.58×More than typical	151	$41,934	68

Rank places for an industry Open Augusta County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 78,325 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 Craigsville, 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

8.1KFY2021
487.3FY2022

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

Craigsville, Virginia's figures are part of those of Augusta County, VA ($5.9M 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: Craigsville is mostly in Augusta County.

See federal money in Augusta 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.

Craigsville, 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.

Augusta County75100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA71

Other cities and towns in Augusta 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/5119904

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends