Scores by category

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

Safety68#5,013/15,637
Economy64#5,608/15,631
Housing70#4,463/14,977
Health55#7,035/15,609
Healthcare25#11,799/15,650
Environment76#3,786/15,453
Education58#6,564/15,649
Infrastructure67#5,220/15,650
Community45#8,601/15,651
Leisure & amenities11#13,961/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
97/100Virginia 14 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauCulpeper County value
Child care cost burden · low20.0%
94/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCulpeper County value
Food environment index · high9.1
89/100Virginia 8.9United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCulpeper County value
Broadband subscriptions · high96.0%
89/100Virginia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Voter turnout · high75.6%
88/100Virginia 70.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionCulpeper County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Virginia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCulpeper County value

Weaknesses

Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
4/100Virginia 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCulpeper County value
Drought exposure · high85%
8/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAACulpeper County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Virginia 3.7United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCulpeper County value
Average commute time · high31.9 min
12/100Virginia 27.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high16.9%
12/100Virginia 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Restaurants and bars · low5.4 /10k
13/100Virginia 8.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsCulpeper County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
18,342 (2015-2019) → 20,794 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
56.5% (2015-2019) → 42.0% (2020-2024)
−15 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.4% (2015-2019) → 96.0% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$68,208 (2015-2019) → $94,721 (2020-2024)
+39%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
32.9% (2015-2019) → 25.4% (2020-2024)
−7.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
26.1% (2015-2019) → 30.7% (2020-2024)
+4.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Culpeper, Virginia improved on 4 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved4

Rent burden−15 points56.5% → 42.0%
Unemployment−2.7 points5.1% → 2.3%
Household income+39%$68,208 → $94,721
Broadband+12 points84.4% → 96.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Culpeper, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	35.9 min2015-2019	31.9 min2020-2024	−4.0 min	Within the margin of error	85%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.1%2015-2019	30.7%2020-2024	+4.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Broadband subscriptions	84.4%2015-2019	96.0%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	67%
Child poverty rate	13.9%2015-2019	18.4%2020-2024	+4.4 points	Within the margin of error	22%
Effective property tax rate	0.74%2015-2019	0.56%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	54%
High school diploma or higher	86.0%2015-2019	84.0%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	4.1×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	64%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3952015-2019	0.4142020-2024	+0.018	Within the margin of error	35%
Median household income	$68,2082015-2019	$94,7212020-2024	+39%	Improved	72%
Poverty rate	11.6%2015-2019	12.8%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	33%
Rent as share of income	32.9%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	−7.5 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Rent-burdened households	56.5%2015-2019	42.0%2020-2024	−15 points	Improved	89%
Unemployment rate	5.1%2015-2019	2.3%2020-2024	−2.7 points	Improved	88%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	16.7%2015-2019	16.9%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	44%

“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 Culpeper, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Culpeper, 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, Culpeper, Virginia itself moved +12.7 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

20,794 residents (±28)

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: 10–19 women (+2.4 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

20,794 residents (±28)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

White48%10,016
Black17%3,489
Hispanic or Latino27%5,519

Education

12,291 residents (±448)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

No high school diploma16%1,965
High school or GED26%3,204
Some college18%2,205

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

6,974 households (±381)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k9.8%†683
$25k–50k17%1,157
$50k–75k15%1,021
$75k–100k10%†704
$100k–150k22%1,546
$150k–200k16%1,124
$200k or more11%†739

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $150k–200k (+8.2 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

6,974 households (±381)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Own59%4,127
Rent41%2,847

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

2,817 households (±383)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $7508.2%†231
$750–1,00014%†386
$1,000–1,50035%995

Home values

4,127 homes (±415)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $150k2.4%†100
$150k–250k8.7%†361
$250k–400k42%1,724

Age of homes

7,137 homes (±389)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

2010 or later16%1,161
2000–200930%2,150
1980–199926%1,878

Size of homes

7,137 homes (±389)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Studio1.9%†133
1 bedroom7.2%†511
2 bedrooms19%1,367

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

10,070 workers (±643)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone65%6,566
Carpool17%1,698
Public transit1.6%†162
Walk2.8%†286
Bike0.4%†41
Work from home10%†1,042
Other2.7%†275

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (−15.6 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

9,028 workers (±621)

Culpeper, Virginia
Virginia share

Under 15 min39%3,484
15–29 min20%1,763
30–44 min7.8%†703

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

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 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

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 Culpeper County, the county holding most of Culpeper's residents.

Culpeper County has 1,126 employer establishments, 204 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.84× Virginia's), with 13,506 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,461. The Census Bureau also counts 4,651 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,126; 4,651 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 204; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 13,506
Average annual pay: $54,461; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	104	18.8	1.22×About typical	451	$57,856	480
Ambulatory health care services	72	13	0.63×Fewer than typical	604	$68,174	117
Restaurants and other eating places	71	12.8	0.70×Fewer than typical	1,355	$19,627	21
Services to buildings and dwellings	67	12.1	1.80×More than typical	220	$43,441	548
Construction of buildings	55	10	1.32×More than typical	245	$60,380	189
Building equipment contractors	45	8.1	1.35×More than typical	169	$50,805	79
Landscaping services	44	8	2.27×More than typical	138	$48,841	331
Religious organizations	40	7.2	1.30×More than typical	170	$21,665	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	34	6.2	1.22×About typical	183	$49,732	65
Full-service restaurants	33	6	0.78×Fewer than typical	522	$21,693	8
Limited-service restaurants	33	6	0.74×Fewer than typical	760	$18,518	8
Lessors of real estate	29	5.2	0.43×Fewer than typical	100	$44,420	396

Rank places for an industry Open Culpeper County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 55,263 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 $45.7K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Culpeper, Virginia: $2.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $45.7K; −95% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.20; US $1,994
Sole-source: 12%; US 30%
Single offer: 9.9%; 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 Veterans Affairs$41.1K90%
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration$5,47712%

Top recipients

ALLSERV INC$20.8K46%
BINARY EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGIES LLC$9,81721%
HEXATRONIC ROCHESTER CABLE, INC.$5,47712%
CATERPILLAR INC$4,1049.0%
VIKING BROS LLC$3,8488.4%

Spending by fiscal year

776.3KFY2017
987.9KFY2018
304.1KFY2019
69.4KFY2020
80.7KFY2021
41.2KFY2022
44.7KFY2023
36.4KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$24.7K54%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362$9,81721%
Spring and wire product manufacturing · 3326$5,47712%
Agriculture, construction, and mining machinery manufacturing · 3331$4,1049.0%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$2,3405.1%
Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$407

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

Culpeper, Virginia's figures are part of those of Culpeper County, VA ($2.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Culpeper 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.

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

House

Eugene Simon VindmanD-VA-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 88%Missed 0.7%

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.

Culpeper County66100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV86

Other cities and towns in Culpeper County

Largest first.

Brandy Station237

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/5120752

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends