The 10 Most Boring Places In Virginia For 2023


The most boring places in Virginia are Poquoson and Smithfield for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Virginia that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.

Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Old Dominion are so lucky.

Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Virginia’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.

Like Poquoson, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Oklahoma according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Poquoson. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Virginia as well.

Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.

Don’t freak out, in fact, believe it not, a boring city is actually one a lot of people would like to call home.

Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.

Showing this data to you is the kind of thing that a real estate agent knows, but would never share.

For more Virginia reading, check out:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Most Boring Places In Virginia For 2023

Poquoson, VA

Source: Wikipedia User Chrisfortier at English Wikipedia | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10
Population: 12,479
Average Age: 42.4
% Married: 32.0%
More on Poquoson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Smithfield, VA

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10
Population: 8,625
Average Age: 45.6
% Married: 23.0%
More on Smithfield: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Richlands, VA

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Stansberry | CC BY 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,266
Average Age: 45.2
% Married: 37.0%
More on Richlands: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Wytheville, VA

Source: Wikipedia User Mark Warner | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10
Population: 8,228
Average Age: 45.2
% Married: 22.0%
More on Wytheville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Covington, VA

Source: Flickr User taberandrew | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,722
Average Age: 41.9
% Married: 39.0%
More on Covington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Marion, VA

Source: Wikipedia User DwayneP (talk) | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 5,722
Average Age: 44.3
% Married: 29.0%
More on Marion: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Franklin, VA

Source: Wikipedia User FlickreviewR | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10
Population: 8,194
Average Age: 38.8
% Married: 28.0%
More on Franklin: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Abingdon, VA

Source: Wikipedia User Ricknightcrawler | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10
Population: 8,346
Average Age: 46.4
% Married: 26.0%
More on Abingdon: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Big Stone Gap, VA

Source: Wikipedia User KJPurscell | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10
Population: 5,221
Average Age: 38.3
% Married: 23.0%
More on Big Stone Gap: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Suffolk, VA

Source: Wikipedia User User: Kubigula | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10
Population: 94,856
Average Age: 38.5
% Married: 22.0%
More on Suffolk: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Old Dominion

You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in Virginia. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.

Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.

To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.

We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. HSome of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:

  • % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
  • % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
  • Average Age (higher is more boring)
  • % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
  • Population density (lower is more boring)

Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.

For this ranking, we used every Virginia city with at least 5,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.

Grab your rocker and hold on.

We updated this article for 2023, and it’s our tenth time ranking the most boring cities in Virginia.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since Virginia isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in Virginia, according to science:

  1. Lexington
  2. Blacksburg
  3. Williamsburg

For more Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In Virginia For 2023

Rank City Population Average Age % Married % Kids
1 Poquoson, VA 12,479 42.4 32.0% 39.1%
2 Smithfield, VA 8,625 45.6 23.0% 26.5%
3 Richlands, VA 5,266 45.2 37.0% 22.8%
4 Wytheville, VA 8,228 45.2 22.0% 24.2%
5 Covington, VA 5,722 41.9 39.0% 28.9%
6 Marion, VA 5,722 44.3 29.0% 28.1%
7 Franklin, VA 8,194 38.8 28.0% 32.9%
8 Abingdon, VA 8,346 46.4 26.0% 19.7%
9 Big Stone Gap, VA 5,221 38.3 23.0% 34.0%
10 Suffolk, VA 94,856 38.5 22.0% 32.8%
11 Pulaski, VA 8,982 40.7 26.0% 26.3%
12 South Boston, VA 7,942 41.6 19.0% 31.8%
13 Emporia, VA 5,680 39.9 22.0% 33.5%
14 Christiansburg, VA 22,947 39.1 25.0% 28.8%
15 Chesapeake, VA 249,377 37.4 20.0% 37.6%
16 Vinton, VA 8,045 41.1 27.0% 30.8%
17 Galax, VA 6,687 42.6 23.0% 28.3%
18 Front Royal, VA 15,064 37.7 23.0% 33.4%
19 Staunton, VA 25,581 41.0 20.0% 25.5%
20 Bristol, VA 17,036 43.7 20.0% 22.7%
21 Salem, VA 25,372 40.8 26.0% 28.4%
22 Waynesboro, VA 22,341 38.7 19.0% 30.0%
23 Bluefield, VA 5,059 38.9 15.0% 36.9%
24 Danville, VA 42,507 41.0 21.0% 21.9%
25 Colonial Heights, VA 18,158 38.4 22.0% 32.7%
26 Woodstock, VA 5,798 38.4 17.0% 34.6%
27 Buena Vista, VA 6,639 35.3 33.0% 28.1%
28 Martinsville, VA 13,539 39.9 20.0% 22.9%
29 Hopewell, VA 23,046 35.7 22.0% 33.9%
30 Virginia Beach, VA 457,900 37.1 14.0% 32.5%
31 Warrenton, VA 10,111 38.2 14.0% 30.9%
32 Strasburg, VA 7,104 36.8 21.0% 31.3%
33 Roanoke, VA 99,213 38.1 18.0% 23.6%
34 Vienna, VA 16,401 41.2 7.0% 43.4%
35 Hampton, VA 137,217 36.5 16.0% 29.5%
36 Purcellville, VA 8,928 35.5 14.0% 48.6%
37 Culpeper, VA 20,105 34.3 17.0% 42.1%
38 Portsmouth, VA 97,384 35.6 18.0% 30.6%
39 Petersburg, VA 33,261 36.6 12.0% 20.9%
40 Falls Church, VA 14,576 38.8 6.0% 35.1%
41 Winchester, VA 28,103 36.6 15.0% 27.7%
42 Manassas Park, VA 17,123 35.8 7.0% 38.3%
43 Leesburg, VA 48,465 34.8 9.0% 43.8%
44 Ashland, VA 7,617 31.0 15.0% 23.8%
45 Fairfax, VA 24,242 37.5 7.0% 30.3%
46 Manassas, VA 42,620 35.1 9.0% 35.3%
47 Herndon, VA 24,456 35.5 5.0% 37.2%
48 Newport News, VA 185,118 34.1 13.0% 28.9%
49 Dumfries, VA 5,697 29.9 9.0% 52.6%
50 Richmond, VA 227,171 34.5 13.0% 19.8%
51 Alexandria, VA 157,594 37.4 4.0% 20.9%
52 Lynchburg, VA 79,166 28.4 15.0% 25.7%
53 Bridgewater, VA 6,575 32.1 15.0% 27.8%
54 Norfolk, VA 236,973 32.2 12.0% 27.8%
55 Fredericksburg, VA 28,258 30.9 11.0% 23.7%
56 Radford, VA 16,379 23.3 14.0% 22.4%
57 Harrisonburg, VA 51,784 25.4 9.0% 28.4%
58 Farmville, VA 7,647 24.4 8.0% 17.1%
59 Charlottesville, VA 46,289 32.4 11.0% 22.6%
60 Williamsburg, VA 15,486 24.6 9.0% 16.0%
61 Blacksburg, VA 45,147 21.7 6.0% 18.9%
62 Lexington, VA 7,346 22.7 5.0% 17.9%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

5 thoughts on “The 10 Most Boring Places In Virginia For 2023

  1. I don’t understand the concept that the older the population, the more boring the city. In Poquoson there are some of the most interesting people: military, NASA scientists, Jefferson Lab scientists, highly trained and skilled people from the Newport News Shipyard, many professional people with PHDs, medical degrees, lawyers, professors, etc and watermen plying an ancient and interesting trade with skill and pride. It is considered one of the safest places in the state with excellent schools and a community that looks out for each other. Just because you may be married does not make you boring nor does having children. I believe your study is based on flawed premises.

  2. Martinsville should have been in the top 3! All that is here is the racetrack and a natural history museum. Other than that, not anything interesting is here.

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