Scores by category

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

Safety27#11,355/15,637
Economy25#11,775/15,631
Housing43#8,521/14,977
Health24#11,889/15,609
Healthcare83#2,708/15,650
Environment94#940/15,453
Education74#4,147/15,649
Infrastructure79#3,328/15,650
Community55#7,005/15,651
Leisure & amenities89#1,734/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low3 mi
99/100Virginia 14 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauLynchburg city value
Primary care physicians · high156 /100k
99/100Virginia 76 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLynchburg city value
Mental health providers · high814 /100k
98/100Virginia 284 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLynchburg city value
Gyms and fitness centers · high2.3 /10k
96/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLynchburg city value
Average commute time · low16.8 min
96/100Virginia 27.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Social associations · high17.0 /10k
95/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLynchburg city value

Weaknesses

Mammography screening · low32.0%
3/100Virginia 47.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLynchburg city value
Drought exposure · high95%
4/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAALynchburg city value
Distance to an airport · high98 mi
10/100Virginia 32 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauLynchburg city value
Drug overdose deaths · high28.9 /100k
11/100Virginia 12.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataLynchburg city value
Life expectancy · low73.5 yrs
15/100Virginia 77.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLynchburg city value
Public libraries · low0.3 /10k
15/100Virginia 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLynchburg city value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.8 /1k (2021) → 3.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+75%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.6% (2015-2019) → 92.4% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$46,409 (2015-2019) → $57,947 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
10.5% (2015-2019) → 6.7% (2020-2024)
−3.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.4× (2015-2019) → 4.0× (2020-2024)
+15%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
35.6% (2015-2019) → 38.5% (2020-2024)
+2.9 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, Lynchburg, Virginia improved on 4 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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

Uninsured−3.7 points10.5% → 6.7%
Broadband+13 points79.6% → 92.4%
Bachelor's++2.9 points35.6% → 38.5%
Household income+25%$46,409 → $57,947

Declined1

Price / income+0.5×3.4× → 4.0×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Lynchburg, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.4 min2015-2019	16.8 min2020-2024	−0.6 min	Within the margin of error	54%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.6%2015-2019	38.5%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Improved	51%
Broadband subscriptions	79.6%2015-2019	92.4%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Child poverty rate	23.0%2015-2019	22.8%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Effective property tax rate	0.99%2015-2019	0.81%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	53%
High school diploma or higher	88.7%2015-2019	91.0%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Home price to income ratio	3.4×2015-2019	4.0×2020-2024	+0.5×	Declined	47%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4622015-2019	0.4662020-2024	+0.004	Within the margin of error	47%
Median household income	$46,4092015-2019	$57,9472020-2024	+25%	Improved	44%
Poverty rate	19.5%2015-2019	18.6%2020-2024	−0.9 points	Within the margin of error	52%
Public transit commuters	2.8%2015-2019	2.2%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Rent as share of income	30.8%2015-2019	31.0%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Rent-burdened households	51.6%2015-2019	51.6%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Unemployment rate	5.8%2015-2019	5.3%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.5%2015-2019	6.7%2020-2024	−3.7 points	Improved	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 Lynchburg, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lynchburg, 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, Lynchburg, Virginia itself moved +3.2 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

79,497 residents

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: 30–39 men (+1.1 points).

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

79,497 residents

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

White60%47,601
Black27%21,483
Hispanic or Latino5.1%4,041

Education

44,667 residents (±188)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

No high school diploma9.0%4,041
High school or GED25%11,068
Some college20%8,946

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

28,701 households (±574)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k21%5,939
$25k–50k23%6,549
$50k–75k17%4,808
$75k–100k13%3,687
$100k–150k16%4,496
$150k–200k6.0%1,716
$200k or more5.2%1,506

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $100k–150k (+6.3 points).

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

28,701 households (±574)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Own49%14,027
Rent51%14,674

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

14,211 households (±721)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $75017%2,459
$750–1,00025%3,597
$1,000–1,50041%5,768

Home values

14,027 homes (±646)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $150k23%3,233
$150k–250k35%4,898
$250k–400k28%3,954

Age of homes

34,208 homes (±92)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

2010 or later8.7%2,984
2000–200912%4,006
1980–199914%4,793

Size of homes

34,208 homes (±92)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Studio1.9%635
1 bedroom11%3,854
2 bedrooms34%11,655

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

35,735 workers (±988)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone68%24,392
Carpool7.1%2,549
Public transit2.2%†799
Walk5.1%1,820
Bike0.1%†28
Work from home14%4,950
Other3.4%1,197

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+9.4 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 B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

30,785 workers (±1,038)

Lynchburg, Virginia
Virginia share

Under 15 min51%15,561
15–29 min37%11,427
30–44 min7.1%2,182

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 Lynchburg, 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 Lynchburg city, the county holding most of Lynchburg's residents.

Lynchburg city has 2,251 employer establishments, 282 for every 10,000 residents (1.14× the US rate of 248; 1.17× Virginia's), with 57,019 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,461. The Census Bureau also counts 5,804 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,251; 5,804 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 282; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 57,019
Average annual pay: $53,461; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	208	26.1	1.42×More than typical	4,845	$19,774	29
Ambulatory health care services	192	24.1	1.15×About typical	5,345	$85,246	299
Lessors of real estate	109	13.7	1.11×About typical	296	$46,611	693
Religious organizations	97	12.2	2.19×More than typical	608	$22,071	—
Limited-service restaurants	95	11.9	1.48×More than typical	2,151	$18,101	12
Full-service restaurants	86	10.8	1.40×More than typical	2,262	$22,393	10
Specialty trade contractors	68	8.5	0.55×Fewer than typical	1,117	$64,560	244
Construction of buildings	63	7.9	1.04×About typical	630	$63,975	126
Offices of other health practitioners	61	7.6	1.26×More than typical	458	$45,576	157
Offices of physicians	61	7.6	1.18×About typical	2,704	$105,865	46
Services to buildings and dwellings	60	7.5	1.12×About typical	553	$28,087	233
Personal care services	55	6.9	1.44×More than typical	207	$29,565	315

Rank places for an industry Open Lynchburg city

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 79,769 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 $26M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Lynchburg, Virginia: $327 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $26M; −39% vs FY2025
Per resident: $327; US $1,994
Sole-source: 67%; US 30%
Single offer: 10%; 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 Energy$16M62%
Department of Veterans Affairs$4.8M19%
Defense Logistics Agency$2.8M11%
Department of the Navy$904.7K3.5%
Department of the Army$619.9K2.4%
Federal Emergency Management Agency$425.7K1.6%
Department of the Air Force$110.8K0.4%
Nuclear Regulatory Commission$90K0.3%

Top recipients

BWXT NUCLEAR OPERATIONS GROUP, INC.$16M62%
BYRD ENTERPRISES UNLIMITED INC$4.2M16%
FLOWSERVE CORP$3M12%
DIAMOND HILL SNF OPERATIONS LLC$627K2.4%
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.$623.1K2.4%

Spending by fiscal year

25MFY2017
36.4MFY2018
13.1MFY2019
15.5MFY2020
14.2MFY2021
11MFY2022
69.1MFY2023
34.1M

Top industries (NAICS)

Basic chemical manufacturing · 3251$16M62%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$1.5M5.6%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$1.4M5.3%
Other specialty trade contractors · 2389$1.3M5.2%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$1.3M4.8%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Lynchburg, Virginia

THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PROCESS 3.6 MT OF HALEU$95.8M
BWXT NUCLEAR OPERATIONS GROUP, INC.· Lynchburg city, VA· Facilities & utilities· Aug 24, 2023 – Aug 24, 2026· 89233123FNA400535
ARMY CONUS ENTERPRISE LAND MOBILE RADIO (ACE LMR) SYSTEM UPGRADE/REFRESH AT ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD.$6.8M
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.· Lynchburg city, VA· IT & telecom· Jun 30, 2025 – May 26, 2026· W15P7T25C0005
BASE$1.9M
INNOVATIVE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.· Lynchburg city, VA· Research & development· Aug 13, 2025 – Apr 20, 2026· N0002425CS151
MOTOR UNIT ASSEMBLY

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

Lynchburg, Virginia's figures are part of those of Lynchburg city, VA ($26M in FY2026), never added to them: 99.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Lynchburg 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.

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

House

John J. McGuire IIIR-VA-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.6%

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.

Lynchburg city70100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lynchburg, VA67

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/5147672

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends