City · Martinsville city, Virginia

Martinsville, Virginia

Martinsville is a city in Martinsville city, Virginia, part of the Martinsville, VA metro area. It has 13,658 residents. Martinsville, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 28 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,220 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #344 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), social associations (high) and restaurants and bars (high). It ranks worst on life expectancy (low), primary care physicians (low) and premature death (high).

28Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,220 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #344 of 375 in VA
Population: 13,658 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 1,246.7 /mi²
FIPS code: 5149784

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety8#14,333/15,637
Economy12#13,719/15,631
Housing82#2,698/14,977
Health2#15,228/15,609
Healthcare26#11,549/15,650
Environment88#1,780/15,453
Education38#9,650/15,649
Infrastructure17#12,928/15,650
Community36#10,032/15,651
Leisure & amenities77#3,625/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high4.3 /10k
99/100Virginia 1.7 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMartinsville city value
Social associations · high24.7 /10k
99/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Restaurants and bars · high14.4 /10k
94/100Virginia 8.4 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMartinsville city value
Grocery stores · high2.9 /10k
93/100Virginia 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMartinsville city value
Mental health providers · high600 /100k
93/100Virginia 284 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Natural hazard risk · low5.0
92/100Virginia 17.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMartinsville city value

Weaknesses

Life expectancy · low66.6 yrs
1/100Virginia 77.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Primary care physicians · low8 /100k
1/100Virginia 76 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Premature death · high18,042 /100k
1/100Virginia 7,587 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Injury deaths · high194 /100k
1/100Virginia 78 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMartinsville city value
Average weekly wage · low$852
3/100Virginia $1,540United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMartinsville city value
Adult obesity · high44.9%
5/100Virginia 38.3%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationRising
12,852 (2015-2019) → 13,658 (2020-2024)
+6.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
0.1 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
73.9% (2015-2019) → 86.0% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
50.8% (2015-2019) → 39.7% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
38.2% (2015-2019) → 29.5% (2020-2024)
−8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,371 (2015-2019) → $46,727 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Martinsville, Virginia improved on 6 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 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.

Improved6

Unemployment−3.1 points6.0% → 2.9%
Rent / income−5.7 points30.3% → 24.6%
Rent burden−11 points50.8% → 39.7%
Uninsured−3.7 points13.6% → 9.8%
Broadband+12 points73.9% → 86.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Martinsville, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	19.4 min2015-2019	21.3 min2020-2024	+1.9 min	Within the margin of error	28%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.0%2015-2019	22.1%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	35%
Broadband subscriptions	73.9%2015-2019	86.0%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	69%
Child poverty rate	38.2%2015-2019	29.5%2020-2024	−8.7 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Effective property tax rate	0.98%2015-2019	0.81%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
High school diploma or higher	82.8%2015-2019	88.7%2020-2024	+5.9 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	−0.4×	Within the margin of error	93%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5032015-2019	0.5022020-2024	−0.001	Within the margin of error	51%
Median household income	$34,3712015-2019	$46,7272020-2024	+36%	Improved	67%
Poverty rate	23.9%2015-2019	23.5%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Rent as share of income	30.3%2015-2019	24.6%2020-2024	−5.7 points	Improved	85%
Rent-burdened households	50.8%2015-2019	39.7%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	84%
Unemployment rate	6.0%2015-2019	2.9%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Improved	90%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.6%2015-2019	9.8%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 Martinsville, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Martinsville, 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, Martinsville, Virginia itself moved +10.8 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

13,658 residents

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

5,711 households (±245)

Martinsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k27%1,568
$25k–50k25%1,448
$50k–75k21%1,179

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,711 households (±245)

Martinsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Own55%3,165
Rent45%2,546

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

5,504 workers (±358)

Martinsville, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone80%4,377
Carpool6.9%†380
Public transit0.0%0

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

Martinsville city has 511 employer establishments, 372 for every 10,000 residents (1.50× the US rate of 248; 1.54× Virginia's), with 9,013 paid employees at an average annual pay of $39,758. The Census Bureau also counts 880 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 511; 880 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 372; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 9,013
Average annual pay: $39,758; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	79	57.6	2.76×More than typical	1,213	$50,160	44
Restaurants and other eating places	40	29.1	1.59×More than typical	697	$18,448	3
Religious organizations	30	21.9	3.94×More than typical	136	$18,353	—
Full-service restaurants	20	14.6	1.90×More than typical	249	$18,297	—
Legal services	20	14.6	2.71×More than typical	194	$51,918	5
Offices of physicians	20	14.6	2.25×More than typical	325	$76,772	7
Lessors of real estate	19	13.8	1.12×About typical	55	$54,782	103
Limited-service restaurants	18	13.1	1.64×More than typical	409	$18,494	—
Outpatient care centers	18	13.1	7.13×More than typical	216	$53,398	—
Offices of other health practitioners	16	11.7	1.92×More than typical	159	$46,950	11
Insurance agencies and brokerages	15	10.9	2.49×More than typical	66	$55,273	19
Offices of dentists	15	10.9	2.71×More than typical	116	$55,621	3

Rank places for an industry Open Martinsville city

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 13,726 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 Martinsville, Virginia: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
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

0FY2017
367.3KFY2018
1.1MFY2019
0FY2020
0FY2021
1.5MFY2022
25KFY2023
1.7MFY2024
21KFY2025

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

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

See federal money in Martinsville 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.

Martinsville, 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.

Martinsville city39100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Martinsville, VA12

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/5149784

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends