Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Blacksburg ranks 247th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 240th for income. A household earns $65,518 a year while median rent runs $1,123/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is job market (29th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (247th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 104th and home prices 113th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Blacksburg, your take-home is worth about $62,288 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 240th of 300↑16.8%$65,518
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 108th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $70,670
- Per-capita income
- $39,686
- Full-time pay
- $36,871
Housing
- Median rent
- 104th of 300↑29.7%$1,123/mo
- Home value
- 113th of 300↑41.1%$270,600
- Property tax
- $1,645/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 5.77%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 29th of 3003%
- Bachelor's+
- 113th of 30036.5%
- Avg commute
- 72nd of 30022 min
People
- Population
- 183,318
- Population change
- +10.4%
- Median age
- 35.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.3%
- Broadband
- 88.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 42nd of 30038
- Natural-hazard loss
- 30th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 152nd of 30018.5%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.5%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — roanoke-blacksburg rgnl ap.
What jobs pay in Blacksburg
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $157,250
- Financial managers
- $139,800
- Pharmacists
- $131,740
- Software developers
- $111,630
- Lawyers
- $106,500
- General & operations managers
- $97,480
- Civil engineers
- $94,200
- Web developers
- $86,680
- Registered nurses
- $81,230
- Accountants & auditors
- $74,800
- Electricians
- $62,490
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,880
- Elementary school teachers
- $60,600
- Police officers
- $56,250
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $53,980
- Plumbers
- $53,340
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,040
- Carpenters
- $47,580
- Construction laborers
- $41,670
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,670
- Customer service reps
- $37,430
- Janitors
- $34,520
- Retail salespersons
- $31,780
- Cashiers
- $28,770
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Blacksburg metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Virginia are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- North Carolina726
- Pennsylvania536
- New Jersey407
- California383
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Blacksburg
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Blacksburg metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Blacksburg metro?
- Median gross rent across the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area is $1,123 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Blacksburg.
- What is the median household income in the Blacksburg metro?
- A typical household in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area earns $65,518 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Blacksburg expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area runs about 7% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Blacksburg metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $70,670 (versus its face value of $65,518). CityLedger rates the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Blacksburg metro?
- The median home value across the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area is $270,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Blacksburg metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA Metro Area is 3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).