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 5.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
- A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 10.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
- Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Mountain View High, about 4 miles away.
- A hospital close byPage Memorial Hospital, INC in Luray, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
- Within reach of a big cityWashington is about 91 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 New Market 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
- $272,900U.S.: $332,700
- Home prices since then
- Up 23%Shenandoah County, 2022 to 2025
- Typical rent, with utilities
- $919 a monthU.S.: $1,413
- Typical household income
- $51,410U.S.: $80,734
- Homes owned by the people living in them
- 43%U.S.: 65%
- Typical property tax bill
- $1,649 a yearVirginia: $2,790
- Homes built before 1940
- 19%U.S.: 12%
- Homes built since 2010
- 2%U.S.: 11%
- Vacation and seasonal homes
- 3%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 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Virginia outside metro areas, not New Market 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
- 2,2222020: 2,148
- Median age
- 49.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
- Age 65 and older
- 36%U.S.: 17%
- Under 18
- 16%U.S.: 22%
- Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
- 20%U.S.: 36%
- Moved here from another county or state in the past year
- 15%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
- Manufacturing (16%); schools, health care and social services (16%)
- Average commute
- 24 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
- Work from home
- 7%U.S.: 15%
- Below the poverty line
- 11%U.S.: 12%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Health care
Nearest emergency room: Page Memorial Hospital, INC, Luray, VA, about 11 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.
Nearest general hospital: Sentara Rmh Medical Center, Harrisonburg, VA, about 19 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 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
There are no public schools inside New Market itself. The nearest public high school is Mountain View High, about 4 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 cable, fiber or DSL internet
- 67%U.S.: 76%
- Homes with any internet subscription
- 90%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
- 21°F
- July average high
- 85°F
- Days 90°F or hotter
- 18 a year
- Nights at or below freezing
- 132 a year
- Rain and melted snow
- 37.2 inches a year
- Snow
- 21 inches a year
- Elevation
- 1,056 feet
Weather station: Edinburg (12 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: Page Memorial Hospital, Harrisonburg, Washington.
Shenandoah County 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
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including New Market Battlefield Park, the New Market Historic District and Shenvalee Golf Resort.
National Park Service sites within about an hour:
- Shenandoah National Park9 miles
- Appalachian National Scenic Trail15 miles
- Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park29 miles
- Blue Ridge Parkway43 miles
- Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park53 miles
Read about New Market's history on Wikipedia.
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
- Timberville, VA3,200 people, 6 miles
- Mount Jackson, VA2,000 people, 7 miles
- Broadway, VA4,500 people, 7 miles
- Stanley, VA1,700 people, 10 miles
- Shenandoah, VA2,500 people, 11 miles
- Luray, VA4,800 people, 12 miles
Smaller places
- Quicksburg, VA (unincorporated)106 people, 3 miles
- Mount Clifton, VA (unincorporated)170 people, 8 miles
- Bowmans Crossing, VA (unincorporated)420 people, 11 miles
- Basye, VA (unincorporated)1,481 people, 13 miles
- Linville, VA (unincorporated)484 people, 13 miles
- Conicville, VA (unincorporated)446 people, 13 miles
- Singers Glen, VA (unincorporated)155 people, 15 miles
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
- 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
- FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
- 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
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
- National Park Service, park unit boundaries
- USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
- 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.