Blacksburg is a medium-sized town located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 45,485 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Blacksburg is the 23rd largest community in Virginia. Blacksburg real estate is some of the most expensive in Virginia, although Blacksburg house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.Blacksburg is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 92.27% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Blacksburg is a town of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Blacksburg who work in teaching (23.73%), food service (10.07%), and sales jobs (9.08%). Also of interest is that Blacksburg has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Blacksburg telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 17.19% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Blacksburg is also a major college town with a large number of people who are 18 years or older and attending college. As is often the case in college towns, the many students that live in Blacksburg have a strong influence on the local culture and entertainment scene, which may seem dormant by comparison in the summer months when much of the student population is away. In the fall, the return of students has a reinvigorating effect on the community. Because colleges are lasting institutions, they have a stabilizing effect on the economy by providing direct local benefits such as jobs for faculty and staff and spending by students. Blacksburg’s economy is one such example of this. One of the benefits of Blacksburg is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 16.65 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result. Many people in Blacksburg take advantage of public transportation to get around. In fact, for the size of the town, the number of people who use the bus to commute to work is quite high. This helps to fill a need among Blacksburg citizens for affordable transportation.Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to Blacksburg, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. Blacksburg is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 69.74% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%. The per capita income in Blacksburg in 2022 was $29,454, which is lower middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $117,816 for a family of four. However, Blacksburg contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Blacksburg also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 42.77% of its population below the federal poverty line.Blacksburg is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Blacksburg home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Blacksburg residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Blacksburg include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Blacksburg is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.
