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Living In Charlottesville

Rotunda and Grounds

A Top-Ranked City

  • No. 2 Best Small College Town, WalletHub 2023
  • Top 15 Happiest Place to Live in the U.S., Outside Magazine 2023
  • Wine Region of the Year, Wine Enthusiast 2023
  • No. 22 Top 100 Best Places to Live, Livability.com 2022 
  • Top Adventure Town, Blue Ridge Outdoors 2020
  • Best Small Cities in the U.S., National Geographic Traveler 2018
  • No. 3 Happiest Place to Live, National Geographic 2017
  • No. 5 Healthiest, Happiest City in the U.S., The Today Show 2017

Location a​nd Climate

A half-hour to the west of Charlottesville is the Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Blue Ridge Mountains. A three-hour drive to the east brings you to Atlantic Ocean beaches. Richmond, the state capital, is an hour away by car, and Washington, D.C., is a little more than two hours north. The average high temperature in July is 87 degrees and the average low in January is 25 degrees. Charlottesville averages more than 219 days of sunshine a year.

Population 

(Estimates as of July 2021)

  • Charlottesville Population: 45,672
  • Albemarle County Population: 113,535
  • Combined City and County Population: 159,207
  • Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area Population: 222,688
  • U.S. Census Bureau Statistics (including age, gender, race)

The University

As a $2.7 billion a year business (all divisions), the University is the area’s No. 1 employer, with more than 16,500 faculty and staff in the areas of information technology, engineering, research and development, business, finance, administration, public relations, athletics and facilities management. UVA encompasses a vast complex of schools, a level-one trauma center, teaching hospital and research facilities, as well as arts and athletic venues.

With a total student body of more than 22,000, the University of Virginia has achieved national prominence in many disciplines and is consistently ranked among the top three public universities, a judgment based on faculty strength, student achievement, satisfaction of alumni and numerous other factors.

Did you know?

  • Charlottesville was named for Princess Charlotte, the wife of George III.
  • Charlottesville was the filming location for 1991 movie, “True Colors” and the 1995 movie “Major Payne.” The nearby Miller School was the location for “Toy Soldiers,” and the Steve Carell movie “Evan Almighty” was filmed in nearby Crozet.
  • Charlottesville and its surrounding areas have their share of celebs, including Sissy Spacek, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Howie Long; authors John Grisham, Tami Hoag, Jan Karon, and Rita Mae Brown; and former poet laureate Rita Dove who is also a UVA professor.
  • Georgia O’Keefe called Charlottesville home during the summers of 1913 through 1916 when she taught art at the University. Her mother moved to Charlottesville in 1909, and O’Keefe lived with her on and off beginning in 1912.
  • Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe called Charlottesville or nearby environs home, as did explorer Meriwether Lewis.
  • The Dave Matthews Band put in its time as a college band in Charlottesville and some of its band members still call the town home. DMB manager Coran Capshaw is a major real estate developer in Charlottesville.