Town · Page County, Virginia

Luray, Virginia

Luray is a town in Page County, Virginia. It has 4,827 residents. Luray, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 28 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,255 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #346 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on hospital quality rating (high), homicide rate (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on broadband subscriptions (low), dentists (low) and average weekly wage (low).

28Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,255 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #346 of 375 in VA
Population: 4,827 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 993.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 5147528

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety78#3,484/15,637
Economy18#12,797/15,631
Housing41#8,897/14,977
Health34#10,361/15,609
Healthcare17#13,006/15,650
Environment59#6,276/15,453
Education49#8,057/15,649
Infrastructure6#14,668/15,650
Community52#7,584/15,651
Leisure & amenities19#12,603/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Virginia 3.7United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPage County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Virginia 4.3 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataPage County value
Time spent in the emergency room · low113 min
91/100Virginia 164 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPage County value
Property crime rate · low591 /100k
84/100Virginia 1,354 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationPage County value
Violent crime rate · low115 /100k
81/100Virginia 206 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationPage County value
Students per teacher · low12.4×
79/100Virginia 13.4×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsPage County value

Weaknesses

Broadband subscriptions · low73.9%
1/100Virginia 91.0%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Dentists · low17 /100k
3/100Virginia 76 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePage County value
Average weekly wage · low$868
3/100Virginia $1,540United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPage County value
Drought exposure · high90%
7/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAPage County value
Grocery stores · low0.8 /10k
8/100Virginia 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPage County value
Mental health providers · low63 /100k
8/100Virginia 284 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePage County value

Trends

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

Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
21.1% (2015-2019) → 8.0% (2020-2024)
−13 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateImproving
17.3% (2015-2019) → 8.4% (2020-2024)
−8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
60.0% (2015-2019) → 52.2% (2020-2024)
−7.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.7× (2015-2019) → 5.1× (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Average commute timeImproving
33.9 min (2015-2019) → 26.1 min (2020-2024)
−23%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Unemployment rateWorsening
5.8% (2015-2019) → 9.4% (2020-2024)
+3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Luray, Virginia improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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.

Improved1

Uninsured−13 points21.1% → 8.0%

Declined1

Inequality+0.0520.378 → 0.430

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Luray, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	33.9 min2015-2019	26.1 min2020-2024	−7.8 min	Within the margin of error	96%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.5%2015-2019	18.5%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	71.4%2015-2019	73.9%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Effective property tax rate	1.03%2015-2019	0.78%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	66%
High school diploma or higher	84.8%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	3.7×2015-2019	5.1×2020-2024	+1.4×	Within the margin of error	11%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3782015-2019	0.4302020-2024	+0.052	Declined	16%
Median household income	$46,1612015-2019	$50,1502020-2024	+8.6%	Within the margin of error	15%
Poverty rate	12.8%2015-2019	12.3%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	33.7%2015-2019	31.8%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Rent-burdened households	60.0%2015-2019	52.2%2020-2024	−7.8 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	21.1%2015-2019	8.0%2020-2024	−13 points	Improved	98%

“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 Luray, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Luray, 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, Luray, Virginia itself moved −1.6 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

4,827 residents (±19)

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

2,323 households (±253)

Luray, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k25%†570
$25k–50k25%†590
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,323 households (±253)

Luray, Virginia
Virginia share

Own65%1,515
Rent35%808

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

1,872 workers (±256)

Luray, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone83%1,545
Carpool6.4%†119
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 Page County, the county holding most of Luray's residents.

Page County has 441 employer establishments, 186 for every 10,000 residents (0.75× the US rate of 248; 0.77× Virginia's), with 4,172 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,838. The Census Bureau also counts 1,572 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 441; 1,572 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 186; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 4,172
Average annual pay: $43,838; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	52	22	1.42×More than typical	227	$45,643	139
Restaurants and other eating places	38	16.1	0.87×About typical	383	$25,298	—
Religious organizations	23	9.7	1.75×More than typical	66	$16,636	—
Limited-service restaurants	18	7.6	0.95×About typical	238	$17,765	—
Building equipment contractors	15	6.3	1.05×About typical	91	$50,451	30
Full-service restaurants	15	6.3	0.83×About typical	123	$42,033	—
Lessors of real estate	15	6.3	0.51×Fewer than typical	21	$39,381	169
Computer systems design and related services	14	5.9	1.37×More than typical	133	$87,338	8
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	14	5.9	1.88×More than typical	44	$41,705	21
Other specialty trade contractors	14	5.9	2.36×More than typical	70	$41,857	48
Automotive repair and maintenance	13	5.5	1.09×About typical	66	$35,197	31
Traveler accommodation	13	5.5	3.04×More than typical	156	$45,353	38

Rank places for an industry Open Page County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,671 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 $2.2M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Luray, Virginia: $448 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2.2M; −17% vs FY2025
Per resident: $448; US $1,994
Sole-source: 1.7%; US 30%
Single offer: 20%; 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 Bureau of Investigation$436.8K20%
Office of the Chief Financial Officer$392.3K18%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$276.7K13%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$154.3K7.1%
Transportation Security Administration$150.3K7.0%
Office of Procurement Operations$119.8K5.5%
Offices, Boards and Divisions$117.3K5.4%
National Park Service$85.6K4.0%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

1.8MFY2017
2MFY2018
1.7MFY2019
698.9KFY2020
1.5MFY2021
3MFY2022
2.6MFY2023
3.3M

Top industries (NAICS)

Computer systems design and related services · 5415$1.9M86%
Other information services · 5191$140K6.5%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$60.4K2.8%
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services · 5416$38.1K1.8%
Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing · 3341$33.3K1.5%
Nonresidential building construction · 2362

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

Luray, Virginia's figures are part of those of Page County, VA ($70.8M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.1% of that total.

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

See federal money in Page 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.

Luray, 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.

Page County37100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Page 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/5147528

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends