Census-designated place · Montgomery County, Virginia

Plum Creek, Virginia

Plum Creek is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Virginia, part of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA metro area. It has 1,068 residents. Plum Creek, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 69 out of 100 (high), ranking #4,889 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #196 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on uninsured residents (under 65) (low), natural hazard risk (low) and flu vaccinations (high). It ranks worst on bachelor's degree or higher (low), dental care shortage (high) and unemployment rate (high).

69High

Quality-of-life score: #4,889 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #196 of 375 in VA
Population: 1,068 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 688.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 5163190

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety70#4,712/15,637
Economy32#10,675/15,631
Housing55#6,736/14,977
Health71#4,583/15,609
Healthcare74#4,114/15,650
Environment100#40/15,453
Education64#5,603/15,649
Infrastructure37#9,920/15,650
Community45#8,623/15,651
Leisure & amenities61#6,135/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Uninsured residents (under 65) · low0.0%
99/100Virginia 8.1%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Natural hazard risk · low1.7
98/100Virginia 17.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMontgomery County value
Flu vaccinations · high57.0%
97/100Virginia 47.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value
Distance to an emergency room · low3.0 mi
92/100Virginia 5.8 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMontgomery County value
Math scores · high3.41
91/100Virginia 3.27United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value
Mammography screening · high55.0%
91/100Virginia 47.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value

Weaknesses

Bachelor's degree or higher · low6.2%
3/100Virginia 42.2%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003High uncertainty
Dental care shortage · high19.0
3/100Virginia 6.1United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMontgomery County value
Unemployment rate · high10.0%
9/100Virginia 3.4%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
New business applications · low8.7 /1k
12/100Virginia 15.6 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauMontgomery County value
Drought exposure · high79%
13/100Virginia 70%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMontgomery County value
Median household income · low$41,603
13/100Virginia $92,116United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,521 (2015-2019) → 1,068 (2020-2024)
−30%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
25.1% (2015-2019) → 63.3% (2020-2024)
+38 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
34.3% (2015-2019) → 6.9% (2020-2024)
−27 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
17.5% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−18 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
25.6% (2015-2019) → 40.4% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.5% (2015-2019) → 78.8% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Plum Creek, Virginia improved on 1 of 7 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 6 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−18 points17.5% → 0.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 7 measures

Change of every measure of Plum Creek, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Broadband subscriptions	70.5%2015-2019	78.8%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	51%
High school diploma or higher	83.6%2015-2019	89.6%2020-2024	+6 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3352015-2019	0.4192020-2024	+0.084	Within the margin of error	7%
Median household income	$37,3792015-2019	$41,6032020-2024	+11%	Within the margin of error	18%
Poverty rate	17.8%2015-2019	15.8%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.5%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−18 points	Improved	99%

“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 Plum Creek, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Plum Creek, 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.

No place that looked like Plum Creek, Virginia five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

For comparison, Plum Creek, Virginia itself moved −11.4 points in standing on average over the same 4 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

1,068 residents (±324)

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

491 households (±121)

Plum Creek, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k36%†178
$25k–50k24%†117
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

491 households (±121)

Plum Creek, Virginia
Virginia share

Own61%†299
Rent39%†192

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

531 workers (±201)

Plum Creek, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone81%†430
Carpool3.2%†17
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 Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, 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 Montgomery County, the county holding most of Plum Creek's residents.

Montgomery County has 2,016 employer establishments, 204 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.85× Virginia's), with 32,210 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,216. The Census Bureau also counts 6,309 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,016; 6,309 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 204; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 32,210
Average annual pay: $54,216; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	192	19.5	0.93×About typical	2,284	$75,612	267
Restaurants and other eating places	177	18	0.98×About typical	4,232	$19,654	24
Specialty trade contractors	103	10.4	0.67×Fewer than typical	581	$56,067	321
Offices of physicians	90	9.1	1.41×More than typical	1,120	$70,570	52
Lessors of real estate	89	9	0.73×Fewer than typical	427	$56,927	821
Full-service restaurants	80	8.1	1.06×About typical	2,268	$21,904	8
Limited-service restaurants	79	8	1.00×About typical	1,761	$16,500	13
Religious organizations	78	7.9	1.43×More than typical	421	$23,862	—
Construction of buildings	64	6.5	0.86×About typical	789	$63,788	160
Services to buildings and dwellings	62	6.3	0.93×About typical	437	$38,302	296
Automotive repair and maintenance	50	5.1	1.01×About typical	342	$38,930	59
Architectural, engineering and related services	49	5	1.43×More than typical	1,022	$130,464	114

Rank places for an industry Open Montgomery County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 98,606 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 -$4,536 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Plum Creek, Virginia: -$4.25 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: -$4,536; −107% vs FY2025
Per resident: -$4.25; US $1,995
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

Department of the Air Force$2060.0%
Department of the Army$20.130.0%

Top recipients

VATELL CORPORATION$2060.0%
TEXTAINER EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT (U.S.) LIMITED$20.130.0%
TECHNOLOGY IN BLACKSBURG, INC.$00.0%
MELD MANUFACTURING CORPORATION$00.0%
THERMAL SYSTEM TRAINING, LLC-$1,2120.0%

Spending by fiscal year

5.4KFY2017
15.1KFY2018
43KFY2019
10KFY2020
69.1KFY2021
59KFY2022
63.1KFY2023
59.8KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing · 3344$2060.0%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment rental and leasing · 5324$20.130.0%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Plum Creek, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Plum Creek, Virginia's figures are part of those of Montgomery County, VA ($52.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Montgomery 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.

Plum Creek, 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.

Montgomery County85100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA75

Other cities and towns in Montgomery 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/5163190

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends