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Towns / Virginia

Exmore, Virginia

Exmore is a small town of about 1,400 people in Northampton County, Virginia. It has lost about 5% of its people since 2020. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Virginia Beach, is about 53 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,396
down 4.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$152,400
Northampton County prices up 27% since 2022
Prices, rural Virginia
88.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
13 miles
Onancock, VA
To Virginia Beach
53 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 moneyThe Census survey didn't reach enough homes in Exmore to say.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Nandua High, about 12 miles away.
  • A hospital close byRiverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Onancock, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityVirginia Beach is about 53 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 Exmore 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
$152,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Northampton County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$669 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Homes owned by the people living in them
34%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$886 a yearVirginia: $2,790
Homes built before 1940
7%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
8%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 27% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Virginia outside metro areas, not Exmore 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
1,3962020: 1,462
Median age
40.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
29%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
10%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%

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
Construction (17%); schools, health care and social services (16%); wholesale trade (13%)
Work from home
6%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
29%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, Onancock, VA, about 13 miles away. It's a general hospital. 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

1 public school in Exmore, run by Northampton County Public Schools. The nearest public high school is Nandua High, about 12 miles away.

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 any internet subscription
80%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
30°F
July average high
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
26 a year
Nights at or below freezing
61 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.2 inches a year
Snow
7 inches a year
Elevation
31 feet

Weather station: Painter 2 W (4 miles away). 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: Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital, Hampton, Virginia Beach.

Northampton County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Assateague Island National Seashore32 miles
  • Colonial National Historical Park42 miles
  • Fort Monroe National Monument43 miles

Read about Exmore's history on Wikipedia.

Know Exmore?

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

  • Willis Wharf, VA (unincorporated)278 people, 1 mile
  • Belle Haven, VA544 people, 2 miles
  • Savage Town, VA (unincorporated)175 people, 2 miles
  • Cats Bridge, VA (unincorporated)200 people, 3 miles
  • Nassawadox, VA512 people, 4 miles
  • Painter, VA278 people, 5 miles
  • Quinby, VA (unincorporated)198 people, 5 miles
  • Mappsburg, VA (unincorporated)103 people, 5 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.