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Towns / Virginia

Buena Vista, Virginia

Buena Vista is a small town of about 6,700 people in Buena Vista city, Virginia. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Richmond, is about 104 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
6,672
up 0.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$156,200
Buena Vista city prices up 11% since 2022
Household income
$57,833
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Virginia
88.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
6 miles
Lexington, VA
To Richmond
104 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.6% below the U.S. average in the parts of Virginia outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood7 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town5 public schools: 3 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byCarilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, about 6 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRichmond is about 104 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Buena Vista meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$156,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 11%Buena Vista city, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,112 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$57,833U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
56%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,421 a yearVirginia: $2,790
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.4U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Virginia outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 11% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Virginia outside metro areas, not Buena Vista alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
6,6722020: 6,616
Median age
35.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
23%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
16%U.S.: 6%
College students
13%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (30%); retail (12%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (12%)
Unemployment rate
1%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
17 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
19%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital, Lexington, VA, about 6 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Centra Health - Lynchburg Gen Hospital, Lynchburg, VA, about 24 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

5 public schools in Buena Vista, run by Buena Vista City Public Schools and Rockbridge County Public Schools.

Colleges in or next to town: Southern Virginia University (under 1,000 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Virginia's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
70%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
87%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
23°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
31 a year
Nights at or below freezing
119 a year
Rain and melted snow
43 inches a year
Snow
11 inches a year
Elevation
822 feet

Weather stations: Lexington (5 miles away) and Buena Vista (less than a mile away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital, Lynchburg, Richmond.

Buena Vista city is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Buena Vista Downtown Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Blue Ridge Parkway2 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail4 miles
  • Shenandoah National Park34 miles
  • Appomattox Court House National Historical Park38 miles
  • Booker T. Washington National Monument47 miles

Campus life. Check Southern Virginia University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Buena Vista's history on Wikipedia.

Know Buena Vista?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • East Lexington, VA (unincorporated)1,652 people, 6 miles
  • Fairfield, VA (unincorporated)566 people, 11 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.