Official Federal Data
Norton city, Virginia
Population 3,577
9 Sources
Updated August 12, 2026
$41,495 up from the baseline named below
Median Income (nominal) vs 2019
$80,734 national
4% up from the baseline named below
Unemployment vs 2024
4.3% national
1,410
Labor Force
13.7% down from the baseline named below
Bachelor's+ vs 2019
35.7% national
Small population: 3,577 residents. These figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5-year estimates, which carry a wide margin of error for places under 20,000 people. Read each value as an approximate range, and treat year-over-year changes as indicative rather than exact. A small shift can reflect survey sampling, not a real change on the ground.
Demographics & Population
Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 · 5-Year Estimates
Household Income
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median Household (nominal)
$41,495 up from 2019 vs 2019
Per Capita
$26,846 up from 2019 vs 2019
Mean Household
$57,082 up from 2019 vs 2019
Median Household (cost-of-living adjusted)
$41,044 state RPP 101.1
Poverty Rate
26.3% down from 2019 vs 2019approx.
Median Income Comparison
Norton city$41,495
Virginia$93,170
National$80,734
Norton city is $51,675 (55.5%) below the Virginia median.
Cost-of-living adjustment uses the BEA all-items regional price parity for Virginia, 101.1 against a national average of 100 (2024). BEA publishes regional price parity at state and metropolitan level only; there is no county figure, so the state index stands in for Norton city and the adjusted median is an approximation. Per capita and mean household income above are nominal and carry no adjustment.
Population Profile
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B01001, B02001, B03003
CohortsShare of total population
Under 18 · 20.2%
18-34 · 18.9%
35-54 · 28.3%
55-64 · 11.3%
65+ · 21.3%
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino is an ethnic category and overlaps with the race categories above.
Educational Attainment
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003 · Population 25+
94.2%
High School+
National: 89.6%
up from national +4.6 pts vs national
13.7%
Bachelor's+
National: 35.7%
down from national 22.0 pts vs national
7.6%
Graduate+
National: 14.1%
down from national 6.5 pts vs national
Employment Overview
Source: U.S. Census Bureau · American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
3,577
Population
1,410
Labor Force
Employed
1,356
Unemployment Rate BLS LAUS 2025 annual
4% up from 2024 +0.4 pts vs 2024
Mean Commute 26 min below national avg
0.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
18.5%
Labor Force and Employed are ACS 5-Year survey estimates; the Unemployment Rate above comes from BLS LAUS, a separate monthly survey with its own methodology. The two won't reconcile by subtracting one from the other.
Key Takeaways
- Income gap: Households earn meaningfully less than the national median, which directly affects retail demand, housing absorption, and tax base.
- Below the state median: Median household income runs $51,675 (55.5%) under the Virginia median, so statewide income averages overstate local household buying power.
- Elevated poverty: At 26.3%, the rate is in economically distressed territory and supports federal funding narratives (CDFI, NMTC, EDA).
- Talent gap: Bachelor's-or-higher attainment trails the national average by 22.0 pts, relevant for advanced-services attraction strategy.
Economy & Industry
Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW · Bureau of Economic Analysis
Key Takeaways
- Largest private-sector industry: Health Care and Social Assistance employs 875 workers (37.4% of tracked sectors), at an average wage of $53,355. Every industry figure on this page is private sector; government employs a further 391 and is counted separately.
- Wage stratification: Wholesale Trade averages $100,746 while Accommodation and Food Services averages $20,405, a 4.9x spread in the same local economy, with implications for workforce development and talent strategy.
Source: BLS QCEW.
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Industry Concentration
Location Quotient measures regional specialization vs. national average. LQ > 1.0 = concentrated.
Cluster Depth
Source: BLS QCEW · Sub-sectors with LQ ≥ 1.5 indicate genuine cluster concentration
Concentrated Sub-Sectors
5 sub-sectors at LQ ≥ 1.5
Largest grouping among them is Accommodation & Food Services Cluster at 47.7% of the employment across all of them, which signals supply-chain fit for site selectors
775
Employment in the sub-sectors listed
1.93x
Peak sub-sector LQ
Sub-Sector Detail
Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers
1.93x 31
Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers
1.91x 44
Ambulatory Health Care Services
1.69x 298
Gasoline Stations and Fuel Dealers
1.52x 32
Food Services and Drinking Places
1.51x 370
Attraction Opportunities
LQ < 0.5 with ≥ 50 employed, screened against local siting constraints. Source: BLS QCEW
0.46x
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
101 employed
Screened on industrial power cost, rail-truck intermodal access, land base.
Industrial electricity in Virginia costs 9.45¢/kWh against 8.62¢/kWh nationally (2025).
Virginia has 7 rail-truck intermodal terminals, the nearest 281 miles from the city.
Land area 7 sq mi, larger than 0% of US counties.
Sources: EIA, BTS NTAD, Census Gazetteer.
Key Takeaways
- Top specialization: Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Other Retailers concentrates at 1.93x the national norm.
- Cluster depth: 5 sub-sectors register LQ ≥ 1.5, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 47.7% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Demand reaches this base from more than one market rather than from a single one.
Source: BLS QCEW sub-sector Location Quotients.
Housing & Affordability
Census ACS · HUD Fair Market Rents FY2026
Housing Overview
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates · Tables B25001, B25077, B25064, B25004
$110,000 up from the baseline named below
Median Home Value vs 2019
$692 up from the baseline named below
Rent/Mo vs 2019
50% down from the baseline named below
Owner-Occ vs 2019
9% down from the baseline named below
Vacancy vs 2019
5% available
for rent or sale
for rent or sale
2.7x
Home Value to Income Ratio - Affordable
vs. ~4.1x national average
HUD Fair Market Rents
HUD publishes these by FMR area, which may cover more than one county · Source: HUD · Fair Market Rents FY2026 · Affordability threshold and renter cost burden from Census ACS B25119, B25070
Studio
$692/mo
1 Bedroom
$697/mo
2 Bedroom
$914/mo
3 Bedroom
$1,205/mo
4 Bedroom
$1,429/mo
30% of monthly median renter household income (~$453/mo, from a renter median of $18,114) · rents above this line are typically considered cost-burdened.
Measured: 39.4% of renter households already pay 30% or more of income on rent, and 30.4% pay 50% or more.
Key Takeaways
- Affordable market: Home value to income ratio of 2.7x is well below the ~4.1x national average; supports talent attraction and family settlement narratives.
- Rent affordability gap: None of the 5 HUD Fair Market Rent bedroom sizes sit below what a household on the median renter income of $18,114 can pay without cost burden (~$453/mo), and 39.4% of renter households are already cost-burdened, 30.4% severely so; workforce housing cost burden warrants attention.
Source: Census ACS housing tables + HUD Fair Market Rents.
Workforce Pipeline
Labor force readiness, commuting, and workforce composition
Labor Market Overview
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Tables B01001, B23001, B23025, B08303, B08301
2,094 down from the baseline named below
Working Age (18-64) vs 2019
Mean Commute 26 min below national avg
0.0 min
Work From Home vs 15.1% national
18.5%
Prime-Age Employed (25-54)
56.7%
of prime-age population
Prime-age rate numerator is civilian employed (B23001); the denominator is total population aged 25-54 (B01001), which also includes armed forces.
of population age 16 and over (2,961)
down from 2019 vs 2019
Education & Talent Pipeline
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table B15003
Bachelor's+
13.7% down from 2019 vs 2019
HS Diploma+
94.2% up from 2019 vs 2019
Institutions in Norton city
The IPEDS institutional directory lists no college, university, or technical school located in Norton city. Any training pipeline serving this city runs through institutions outside it, which this page does not aggregate.
Aging Workforce
Source: Census Bureau ACS · Derived from age & employment tables
19.2%
55-64 of working-age population (18-64)
Same cohort is 11.3% of total population, the basis used in the Demographics cohort chart.
Workforce by Occupation
Source: Census ACS 2020-2024 · Table C24010 · Civilian employed population 16+
Management / Professional
41.5%
Service
12.4%
Sales & Office
26.6%
Construction / Maint.
12.2%
Production / Transport
7.2%
Bars are drawn on a 0% to 60% axis, so bar length is proportional to actual share. Labels give each group's share of 1,356 employed workers.
Key Takeaways
- Low participation: 47.6% labor force participation. The labor force itself fell 21.6% between 2019 and 2024, from 1,798 to 1,410.
- Talent pipeline: no college, university, or technical school is located in Norton city per the IPEDS institutional directory, so any training pipeline serving it runs through institutions outside the county.
Source: ACS workforce data and College Scorecard.
AI Insights
Sample output. Pulse AI analysis draws on 9 federal data sources.
Sample AI Insight
Norton city shows emerging potential for furniture, home furnishings, and other retailers attraction, with a 1.93x concentration and 31 jobs in this sub-sector.
The concentrated base spans furniture, home furnishings, and other retailers, clothing, clothing accessories, shoe, and jewelry retailers, and ambulatory health care services, and no single source of demand accounts for more than 47.7% of the employment across them, the largest being visitor economy. Supply-chain recruitment has more than one demand base to work from.
Industry Shift Analysis
Manufacturing Automation Risk
High
Healthcare Growth Forecast
+4.2% CAGR
Remote Work Migration
67/100
Prospect Match Scores
Advanced Manufacturing
92/100
Life Sciences
84/100
Data Centers
71/100
Illustrative example
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Data Sources
Updated from official federal government data.
Census ACS 5-Year2024
BLS QCEW2024 annual
BLS LAUS2025 annual
BEA Regional GDP2024
BEA Regional Price Parity2024
Census CBP2023
HUD Fair Market RentsFY2026
FCC Broadband Map2024
USAspending.govFY2026
American Community Survey figures on this page are 2020-2024 five-year averages rather than single-year counts. A five-year estimate pools 60 months of survey responses, so each value describes the period as a whole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Key economic and demographic figures for Norton city, Virginia, from federal data sources.
What is the population of Norton city, Virginia?
3,577 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates).
What is the median household income in Norton city, Virginia?
$41,495 in nominal dollars (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimates). Adjusted for local prices using the BEA all-items regional price parity for Virginia (101.1 against a national average of 100), that is $41,044 at national average prices. BEA publishes regional price parity at state level; there is no county-level figure.
What is the unemployment rate in Norton city, Virginia?
4% (2025 annual average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LAUS).
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