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Place dossier plate
SheetVA-PENNINGTON-GAP-VA · Pennington Gap, VA 2,020 pop · income 1st pct · 7 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Pennington Gap
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pennington Gap on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Glen Allan · lowest
22,813
Glen Allan · lowest
22,813 median HH income
12.0% of the leader · rank #1
Ramos comunid… · near
22,824
Ramos comunid… · near
22,824 median HH income
12.0% of the leader · rank #2
Ringgold · near
22,833
Ringgold · near
22,833 median HH income
12.0% of the leader · rank #3
Enfield · near
22,852
Enfield · near
22,852 median HH income
12.0% of the leader · rank #4
Pennington Gap · this city
22,857
Pennington Gap · this city
22,857 median HH income
12.0% of the leader · rank #5
East Cleveland · near
22,883
East Cleveland · near
22,883 median HH income
12.1% of the leader · rank #6
Mason Neck · highest
189,688
Mason Neck · highest
189,688 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Pennington Gap on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,020.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Pennington Gap - the verdict
Nationally, Pennington Gap sits in the 1st percentile for household income and the 53rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
1st
percentile, household income
5th
percentile, home value
62nd
percentile, median rent
53rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Pennington Gap, VA
Pennington Gap is a small town in Virginia, home to 2,020 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Pennington Gap brings in $22,857 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 45.1%. Home values in Pennington Gap run a median of $86,900, and the median resident age is 32.5 years. Educational attainment runs 10.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 29.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Pennington Gap reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 1276.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 54.8°F with 49.7 inches of precipitation per year and 9.3 inches of snowfall.
Virginia tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 101.1 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,369 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $235 across Virginia, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 33.3 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Pennington Gap's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to reported crime to housing and income to population change to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to within-city variation to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pennington Gap, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Pennington Gap?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 10.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Pennington Gap?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1276.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 44% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
What can 7 Census tracts reveal inside Pennington Gap?
PlainCities matches 7 Census tracts to this city.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Pennington Gap?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Virginia, the closest population matches are East Lexington (2,020 residents, $70,500 income); Dayton (2,023 residents, $87,763 income); Mount Jackson (2,048 residents, $55,521 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hillsboro Beach, FL (2,020 residents); Schofield, WI (2,020 residents); Jamestown, KY (2,021 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Pennington Gap?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 45.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.8×
Home value
$86,900
Household income
$22,857
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Pennington Gap growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -41 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.5% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
2020 estimate
1,609
2025 estimate
1,568
Period change
-2.5%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What physical conditions frame life in Pennington Gap?
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 54.8°F, with 49.7 inches of precipitation and 9.3 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Virginia is 33.3 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
FEMA risk index (state avg)
33.3
Annual precipitation
49.7 in
Mean temperature
54.8°F
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
What does the journey to work look like in Pennington Gap?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 80.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
80.7%
Work from home
7.4%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 393 workers age 16+.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 45.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
101.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average
F
City profile score · Pennington Gap, VA
27/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
101.1 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
10.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$22,857
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
45.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Pennington Gap profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index
Bachelor's+ share: 6/100 (F) · 10.0%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $22,857
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 45.1%
Where Pennington Gap sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Pennington Gap's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Pennington Gap highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
Pennington Gap, VA (this city): home $86,900, crime 1,276/100k
Jamestown, KY : home $119,200, crime 691/100k
Thomaston, ME : home $258,700, crime 3,803/100k
Bay Springs, MS : home $147,600, crime 1,203/100k
Mount Jackson, VA : home $170,300, crime 1,582/100k
Saltville, VA : home $92,000, crime 453/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Pennington Gap compare to other US cities?
Here's how Pennington Gap stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income1% higher than other cities
Home value5% pricier than other cities
Median rent62% pricier than other cities
Safety53% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Virginia and the picture shifts: Pennington Gap ranks #38 of 117 Virginia cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pennington Gap against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Virginia only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Virginia-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Pennington Gap near the bottom of Virginia's cities
Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pennington Gap ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pennington Gap only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#554 of 558
1st percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#546 of 567
4th percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#11 of 616
98th percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#524 of 618
15th percentile in Virginia
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Virginia only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
1st percentile nationally for median household income · 53rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Pennington Gap's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Pennington Gap's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Pennington Gap's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$86,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 95% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Pennington Gap's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,065 of 15,516
More affordable than 35% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#7,954 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.8×, Pennington Gap sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,065 of 15,516 and #7,954 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$22,857Pennington Gap, VA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pennington Gap, VA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Pennington Gap, VA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)10.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)45.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)29.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,020
Median Income
$22,857
Median Home Value
$86,900
Median Age
32.5
Poverty Rate
45.1%
Labor force participation
29.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
10.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1276.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1276.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
54.8°F
Annual Precipitation
49.7"
Annual Snowfall
9.3"
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Pennington Gap's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,609 residents
2021
1,600 residents
2022
1,586 residents
2023
1,579 residents
2024
1,578 residents
2025
1,568 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
80.7%
Carpool
9.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.0%
Work from Home
7.4%
Based on 393 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Virginia statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Virginia at $235 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $50 ).
These are Virginia statewide averages, not a meter reading for Pennington Gap. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Virginia's BEA cost-of-living index is 101.1 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Pennington Gap is $1,369/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Virginia statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 33.3 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Virginia statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Pennington Gap sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pennington Gap compares to similar-size Virginia cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.