Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetVA-RIDGEWAY-VA · Ridgeway, VA 1,082 pop · income 37th pct
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 Ridgeway
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Ridgeway on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
St. Paul · lowest
29,554
St. Paul · lowest
29,554 median HH income
20.8% of the leader · rank #1
Ridgeway · this city
60,938
Ridgeway · this city
60,938 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #2
Girard · near
60,938
Girard · near
60,938 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #3
Spirit Lake · near
60,938
Spirit Lake · near
60,938 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #4
Wanatah · near
60,938
Wanatah · near
60,938 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #5
Herndon · near
60,938
Herndon · near
60,938 median HH income
42.9% of the leader · rank #6
Occoquan · highest
142,083
Occoquan · highest
142,083 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Ridgeway on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 1,082.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Ridgeway places in the 37th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
37th
percentile, household income
26th
percentile, home value
62nd
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Ridgeway, VA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 1,082 residents in Ridgeway, a small town within Virginia. Median household income here is $60,938 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.9%. Ridgeway's housing stock carries a median value of $147,400, and the median resident age is 35.4 years. Educational attainment runs 21.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 53.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Virginia tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Virginia scores 101.1 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,369 monthly. 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 Ridgeway'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 comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Ridgeway, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Ridgeway?
Within Virginia, the closest population matches are Arrington (1,084 residents, $47,000 income); Rushmere (1,087 residents, $76,429 income); Occoquan (1,089 residents, $142,083 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Swifton, AR (1,082 residents); Georgetown, CO (1,082 residents); Wainaku, HI (1,082 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.
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.
Is Ridgeway growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -22 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.9% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Ridgeway?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 85.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 21.4% 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.
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.
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 Ridgeway?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Household income
$60,938
Home value
$147,400
Value / income
2.4×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 7.9% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
101.1 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Virginia average
F
City profile score · Ridgeway, VA
39/100
4 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.
Poverty rate D
7.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
21.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$60,938
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Ridgeway profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 48/100 (D) · 7.9%
Bachelor's+ share: 38/100 (F) · 21.4%
Household income: 36/100 (F) · $60,938
Cost of living: 35/100 (F) · 101.1 index
How does Ridgeway compare to other US cities?
Ridgeway measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income37% higher than other cities
Home value26% pricier than other cities
Median rent62% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway near the bottom of Virginia's cities
Among the 619 Virginia cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Ridgeway ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Ridgeway only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#352 of 558
37th percentile in Virginia
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 619
0th percentile in Virginia
Median Home Value
#447 of 567
21st percentile in Virginia
Poverty Rate
#241 of 616
61st percentile in Virginia
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#367 of 618
40th 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
37th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Ridgeway's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$147,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 74% 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
Ridgeway's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,593 of 15,516
More affordable than 77% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,266 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Ridgeway sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,593 of 15,516 and #3,266 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$60,938Ridgeway, VA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Ridgeway, 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 Ridgeway, VA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)21.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,082
Median Income
$60,938
Median Home Value
$147,400
Median Age
35.4
Poverty Rate
7.9%
Labor force participation
53.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
21.4%
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
Ridgeway's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
754 residents
2021
745 residents
2022
738 residents
2023
737 residents
2024
735 residents
2025
732 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
85.6%
Carpool
3.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
10.0%
Other
1.1%
Based on 369 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 Ridgeway. 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 Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Ridgeway 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, 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.