Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Blacksburg's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Blacksburg?
Your $100,000 in Blacksburg has the same purchasing power as $113,533 in the average US city. You'd need $13,533 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Blacksburg's cost index of 88, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Blacksburg usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, low unemployment, plenty of openings, plus 6 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Blacksburg sits at 88 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 12% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,237/mo against a typical household income of $42,012, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
At about 3.4% unemployment, Blacksburg's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Blacksburg reports roughly 643 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Blacksburg earns a Walk Score of 66/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents. Transit Score comes in at 57/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Blacksburg's Bike Score is 84/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
Blacksburg's air quality index averages about 38 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Blacksburg is about 15 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
67% of adults 25 and over in Blacksburg hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Blacksburg's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 32°F, Blacksburg sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Blacksburg averages about 32°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Blacksburg runs about 87°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Blacksburg's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Blacksburg sits at about 2,067 feet (630 m) — meaningfully higher than coastal cities, but not high enough to noticeably affect breathing or cooking.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Blacksburg learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
By the numbers, yes. Blacksburg reports roughly 643 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Blacksburg's composite cost-of-living index is 88, roughly 12% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Somewhat. Blacksburg earns a Walk Score of 66/100 — many daily errands are doable on foot, especially in the denser neighborhoods, but a car still helps for longer trips. Transit Score is 57 out of 100.
Roughly $61,656 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Blacksburg runs about $1,237/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.