Harrisonburg 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 Harrisonburg 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. Harrisonburg’s economy is one such example of this.
Not only is Harrisonburg a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, creating a decent-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile. This makes it a good choice for other relocating single professionals. Here, these young singles will find many others like themselves, with opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.
One of the benefits of Harrisonburg is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.14 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.
The population of Harrisonburg is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 35.19% of adults in Harrisonburg have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.
The per capita income in Harrisonburg in 2022 was $25,881, which is lower middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $103,524 for a family of four. However, Harrisonburg contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Harrisonburg is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Harrisonburg home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Harrisonburg residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Harrisonburg also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 20.78% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Harrisonburg include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Swiss.
In addition, Harrisonburg has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (17.58%).
The most common language spoken in Harrisonburg is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
