The 10 Whitest Cities In Virginia For 2022


We used science and data to determine which cities in Virginia are whiter than wonder bread.

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You're at your local Whole Foods shopping for kale chips and asparagus water, trying to work out if you'll have time to stop at the Pottery Barn before you head to your yoga class taught by a girl named Sage. It hits you: you're leading the whitest life imaginable.

But does that mean the city you live in is one of the whitest places in Virginia?

Don't worry, we've figured it out for you. Using actual census data combined with our favorite white people stereotypes (as confirmed by the internet), we can determine which cities are the whitest of the white in Old Dominion.

After analyzing cities with populations greater than 5,000, we came up with this list as the whitest cities in Virginia for 2022.

Here are the 10 whites places in Virginia for 2022:

  1. Richlands
  2. Abingdon
  3. Poquoson
  4. Buena Vista
  5. Wytheville
  6. Bristol
  7. Marion
  8. Vinton
  9. Christiansburg
  10. Bridgewater

What is the whitest city in Virginia for 2022? According to the most recent census data Richlands ranks as the whitest. If you're wondering, Petersburg is the least white city of all those we measured.

Read on below to see where your hometown ranked and why. Or check out the whitest states in America and the most diverse states in America.

For more Virginia reading, check out:

The 10 Whitest Cities In Virginia For 2022

1. Richlands

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 5,311
% White: 96.42%
More on Richlands: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Richlands, VA

2. Abingdon

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 7,936
% White: 91.8%
More on Abingdon: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Abingdon, VA

3. Poquoson

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 12,121
% White: 90.55%
More on Poquoson: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Poquoson, VA

4. Buena Vista

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 6,477
% White: 87.85%
More on Buena Vista: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Buena Vista, VA

Source: Public domain

5. Wytheville

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 7,925
% White: 87.68%
More on Wytheville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Wytheville, VA

6. Bristol

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 17,059
% White: 87.55%
More on Bristol: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Bristol, VA

7. Marion

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,646
% White: 87.19%
More on Marion: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Marion, VA

8. Vinton

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 8,102
% White: 86.77%
More on Vinton: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Vinton, VA

9. Christiansburg

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 22,482
% White: 86.46%
More on Christiansburg: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Christiansburg, VA

10. Bridgewater

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 6,090
% White: 86.34%
More on Bridgewater: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Bridgewater, VA

Methodology: How we determined the whitest places in Virginia for 2022

In order to rank the whitest places in Virginia, we had to determine what measurable criteria defines whiteness.

Obviously we had to count how many white people living there, specifically the percentage of white people living in each city in Virginia.

Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:

  • Hispanic or Latino
  • White alone*
  • Black or African American alone*
  • American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
  • Asian alone*
  • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
  • Some other race alone*
  • Two or more races*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as White alone.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 59 cities.

We then calculated the percent of residents that are White. The percentages ranked from 96.4% to 15.0%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of White population with a higher score being more White than a lower score. Richlands took the distinction of being the most White, while Petersburg was the least White city. You can download the data here.

Read on for more information on how the cities in Virginia ranked by population of White residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: White Populations Across Virginia

Measuring the locations with the highest percentage of white people, this list provides accurate information on the whitest places in Virginia according to the most recent data.

If you're curious enough, here are the least White places in Virginia:

  1. Petersburg
  2. Emporia
  3. Manassas Park

For more Virginia reading, check out:

White Population By City In { state|title }}

Rank City % White Population
1 Richlands 96.42% 5,311
2 Abingdon 91.8% 7,936
3 Poquoson 90.55% 12,121
4 Buena Vista 87.85% 6,477
5 Wytheville 87.68% 7,925
6 Bristol 87.55% 17,059
7 Marion 87.19% 5,646
8 Vinton 86.77% 8,102
9 Christiansburg 86.46% 22,482
10 Bridgewater 86.34% 6,090
11 Pulaski 85.35% 8,744
12 Salem 84.58% 25,290
13 Strasburg 84.18% 6,643
14 Radford 83.14% 17,833
15 Staunton 80.54% 24,660
16 Covington 80.49% 5,653
17 Lexington 79.42% 7,205
18 Front Royal 77.51% 15,214
19 Blacksburg 75.79% 44,395
20 Waynesboro 74.5% 22,300
21 Warrenton 73.02% 9,928
22 Galax 72.62% 6,402
23 Big Stone Gap 71.88% 5,209
24 Purcellville 71.39% 10,063
25 Colonial Heights 71.39% 17,283
26 Falls Church 71.17% 14,309
27 Smithfield 69.45% 8,492
28 Williamsburg 67.94% 15,034
29 Vienna 67.01% 16,532
30 Charlottesville 65.6% 47,217
31 Harrisonburg 65.27% 53,558
32 Winchester 64.85% 27,912
33 Ashland 62.62% 7,819
34 Lynchburg 62.22% 80,970
35 Farmville 61.21% 8,152
36 Virginia Beach 61.05% 450,882
37 Leesburg 59.96% 53,731
38 Fredericksburg 58.09% 29,059
39 Roanoke 58.05% 99,122
40 Chesapeake 56.41% 242,647
41 Fairfax 55.41% 23,312
42 Culpeper 53.82% 18,633
43 Alexandria 51.59% 158,309
44 Suffolk 48.92% 91,383
45 Hopewell 45.2% 22,500
46 Martinsville 43.48% 12,646
47 Norfolk 43.08% 244,300
48 Newport News 42.09% 179,582
49 Danville 41.6% 40,668
50 Richmond 41.18% 229,233
51 Manassas 39.59% 41,038
52 Hampton 37.46% 135,169
53 Franklin 37.22% 8,015
54 Portsmouth 37.02% 94,961
55 Herndon 36.36% 24,577
56 South Boston 33.87% 7,676
57 Manassas Park 32.51% 17,548
58 Emporia 26.68% 5,408
59 Petersburg 14.97% 30,791

How Is The Area In ?

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the whitest cities in Virginia.

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.