Town · Wythe County, Virginia

Rural Retreat, Virginia

Rural Retreat is a town in Wythe County, Virginia. It has 1,644 residents. Rural Retreat, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 53 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,337 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #252 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on reading scores (high), hot days (low) and natural hazard risk (low). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), average weekly wage (low) and life expectancy (low).

53Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,337 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #252 of 375 in VA
Population: 1,644 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 722.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 5169456

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety38#9,729/15,637
Economy47#8,293/15,631
Housing66#5,048/14,977
Health21#12,326/15,609
Healthcare26#11,574/15,650
Environment100#21/15,453
Education89#1,749/15,649
Infrastructure29#11,179/15,650
Community51#7,606/15,651
Leisure & amenities54#7,145/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Reading scores · high3.51
98/100Virginia 3.16United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value
Hot days · low1 days
97/100Virginia 20 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationWythe County value
Natural hazard risk · low5.0
92/100Virginia 17.92025Federal Emergency Management AgencyWythe County value
Public EV charging ports · high16.1 /10k
91/100Virginia 6.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyWythe County value
Math scores · high3.42
91/100Virginia 3.27United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value
Child care cost burden · low21.2%
91/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high31.9 /100k
6/100Virginia 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataWythe County value
Average weekly wage · low$926
8/100Virginia $1,540United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWythe County value
Life expectancy · low72.6 yrs
10/100Virginia 77.8 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value
Flu vaccinations · low32.0%
11/100Virginia 47.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value
Dental care shortage · high17.0
12/100Virginia 6.1United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWythe County value
Premature death · high12,107 /100k
13/100Virginia 7,587 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWythe County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateWorsening
10.0% (2015-2019) → 45.1% (2020-2024)
+35 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
9.2% (2015-2019) → 22.3% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
18.0 min (2015-2019) → 26.1 min (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
High school diploma or higherImproving
85.9% (2015-2019) → 94.6% (2020-2024)
+8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
41.4% (2015-2019) → 49.1% (2020-2024)
+7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
80.0% (2015-2019) → 86.2% (2020-2024)
+6.1 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, Rural Retreat, Virginia improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Poverty+13 points9.2% → 22.3%

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Rural Retreat, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.0 min2015-2019	26.1 min2020-2024	+8.1 min	Within the margin of error	4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.5%2015-2019	22.7%2020-2024	+4.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Broadband subscriptions	80.0%2015-2019	86.2%2020-2024	+6.1 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Effective property tax rate	0.58%2015-2019	0.51%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	29%
High school diploma or higher	85.9%2015-2019	94.6%2020-2024	+8.7 points	Within the margin of error	93%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.0×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	63%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3822015-2019	0.4292020-2024	+0.047	Within the margin of error	18%
Median household income	$49,1072015-2019	$61,9792020-2024	+26%	Within the margin of error	47%
Poverty rate	9.2%2015-2019	22.3%2020-2024	+13 points	Declined	2%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	41.4%2015-2019	49.1%2020-2024	+7.7 points	Within the margin of error	29%

“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 Rural Retreat, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Rural Retreat, 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, Rural Retreat, Virginia itself moved −7.9 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,644 residents (±355)

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

665 households (±140)

Rural Retreat, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k27%†177
$25k–50k16%†106
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

665 households (±140)

Rural Retreat, Virginia
Virginia share

Own82%547
Rent18%†118

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

784 workers (±199)

Rural Retreat, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone83%653
Carpool6.0%†47
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 Wythe County, the county holding most of Rural Retreat's residents.

Wythe County has 691 employer establishments, 245 for every 10,000 residents (0.99× the US rate of 248; 1.02× Virginia's), with 9,944 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,855. The Census Bureau also counts 1,718 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 691; 1,718 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 245; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 9,944
Average annual pay: $44,855; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	62	22	1.06×About typical	583	$56,492	57
Restaurants and other eating places	57	20.2	1.10×About typical	1,130	$20,014	3
Automotive repair and maintenance	37	13.1	2.61×More than typical	184	$36,467	43
Religious organizations	32	11.4	2.05×More than typical	123	$19,333	—
Full-service restaurants	29	10.3	1.34×More than typical	531	$20,424	—
Gasoline stations	29	10.3	3.18×More than typical	562	$32,856	4
Traveler accommodation	28	9.9	5.51×More than typical	285	$24,470	10
Limited-service restaurants	26	9.2	1.15×About typical	567	$19,460	—
Specialty trade contractors	24	8.5	0.55×Fewer than typical	285	$57,098	124
Lessors of real estate	23	8.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	52	$34,519	208
Construction of buildings	22	7.8	1.03×About typical	88	$34,273	74
Offices of physicians	22	7.8	1.21×About typical	191	$69,560	14

Rank places for an industry Open Wythe County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 28,166 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Wythe 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.

Rural Retreat, 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.

Wythe County57100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Wythe 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/5169456

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends