Census-designated place · Henry County, Virginia

Horse Pasture, Virginia

Horse Pasture is a census-designated place in Henry County, Virginia, part of the Martinsville, VA metro area. It has 2,236 residents. Horse Pasture, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 25 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,794 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #354 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on child care cost burden (low), effective property tax rate (low) and uninsured residents (under 65) (low). It ranks worst on job growth (low), firearm deaths (high) and injury deaths (high).

25Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,794 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #354 of 375 in VA
Population: 2,236 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 231.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 5138552

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.

Safety12#13,689/15,637
Economy27#11,486/15,631
Housing96#644/14,977
Health7#14,522/15,609
Healthcare23#12,005/15,650
Environment88#1,925/15,453
Education52#7,438/15,649
Infrastructure13#13,572/15,650
Community21#12,336/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,524/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Child care cost burden · low20.9%
92/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.45%
91/100Virginia 0.78%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low2.0%
90/100Virginia 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Social associations · high14.5 /10k
89/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Rent as share of income · low22.1%
89/100Virginia 29.4%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Virginia 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-6.3%
1/100Virginia -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHenry County value
Firearm deaths · high34.2 /100k
1/100Virginia 12.4 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHenry County value
Injury deaths · high172 /100k
2/100Virginia 78 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Mental health providers · low30 /100k
2/100Virginia 284 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Premature death · high15,584 /100k
3/100Virginia 7,587 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHenry County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,080 (2015-2019) → 2,236 (2020-2024)
+7.5%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
65.6% (2015-2019) → 83.6% (2020-2024)
+18 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$32,388 (2015-2019) → $54,216 (2020-2024)
+67%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
15.8% (2015-2019) → 29.0% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
17.5% (2015-2019) → 29.5% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
11.5% (2015-2019) → 2.0% (2020-2024)
−9.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Horse Pasture, Virginia improved on 2 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 7 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.

Improved2

Household income+67%$32,388 → $54,216
Broadband+18 points65.6% → 83.6%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Horse Pasture, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.6%2015-2019	10.7%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Broadband subscriptions	65.6%2015-2019	83.6%2020-2024	+18 points	Improved	87%
Effective property tax rate	0.40%2015-2019	0.45%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	10%
High school diploma or higher	83.7%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	+7.3 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Home price to income ratio	2.8×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	−0.5×	Within the margin of error	94%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3642015-2019	0.4252020-2024	+0.060	Within the margin of error	13%
Median household income	$32,3882015-2019	$54,2162020-2024	+67%	Improved	93%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.3%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	−4.2 points	Within the margin of error	80%

“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 Horse Pasture, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Horse Pasture, 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, Horse Pasture, Virginia itself moved +6.5 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

2,236 residents (±553)

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

830 households (±173)

Horse Pasture, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k25%†211
$25k–50k20%†169
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

830 households (±173)

Horse Pasture, Virginia
Virginia share

Own85%704
Rent15%†126

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

731 workers (±278)

Horse Pasture, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone85%†619
Carpool4.5%†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 Martinsville, 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 Henry County, the county holding most of Horse Pasture's residents.

Henry County has 803 employer establishments, 162 for every 10,000 residents (0.65× the US rate of 248; 0.67× Virginia's), with 12,670 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,059. The Census Bureau also counts 2,741 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 803; 2,741 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 162; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 12,670
Average annual pay: $39,059; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	68	13.7	2.47×More than typical	274	$17,723	—
Restaurants and other eating places	58	11.7	0.64×Fewer than typical	930	$17,598	13
Specialty trade contractors	57	11.5	0.74×Fewer than typical	312	$39,795	211
Services to buildings and dwellings	39	7.8	1.16×About typical	285	$25,909	264
Gasoline stations	34	6.8	2.11×More than typical	239	$26,774	3
Ambulatory health care services	33	6.6	0.32×Fewer than typical	329	$52,243	122
Limited-service restaurants	32	6.4	0.80×About typical	626	$16,249	4
Building equipment contractors	24	4.8	0.80×About typical	199	$45,151	43
Full-service restaurants	23	4.6	0.60×Fewer than typical	281	$21,206	8
General merchandise stores	23	4.6	2.62×More than typical	200	$20,600	24
Grocery and convenience stores	23	4.6	1.56×More than typical	430	$18,500	13
Construction of buildings	21	4.2	0.56×Fewer than typical	89	$41,506	106

Rank places for an industry Open Henry County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 49,709 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 $64.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Horse Pasture, Virginia: $28.74 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $64.3K; +7.3% vs FY2025
Per resident: $28.74; US $1,995
Sole-source: 2.6%; US 30%
Single offer: 97%; 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

Federal Acquisition Service$62.6K97%
Smithsonian Institution$1,6592.6%

Top recipients

BARNES SUPPLY CO, INC$62.6K97%
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FOUNDATION$1,6592.6%

Spending by fiscal year

12.3KFY2017
14.8KFY2018
166.2KFY2019
7.5KFY2020
41.1KFY2021
38.5KFY2022
49KFY2023
67.2KFY2024
59.9KFY2025
64.3KFY2026
397.9FY2027

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies$62.6K97%
Professional services$1,6592.6%

Top industries (NAICS)

Other textile product mills · 3149$62.6K97%
Social advocacy organizations · 8133$1,6592.6%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 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 Horse Pasture, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Horse Pasture, Virginia's figures are part of those of Henry County, VA ($6.1M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Henry 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.

Horse Pasture, 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.

Henry County23100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Martinsville, VA12

Other cities and towns in Henry 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/5138552

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends