Charlottesville, VA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Virginia·Charlottesville

Charlottesville city · Charlottesville · population 44,767

Shrinking
Charlottesville, VA
Image: Wikipedia · Charlottesville, Virginia
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
60
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Charlottesville stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 1.0% per year.

Median home $522,850
1-year +0.3%
5-yr CAGR +4.9%
vs 5-yr peak -0.1%
Population -1.0%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2026-02$523k$288k$374k$459k$544k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
70/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$2,011/mo$1,421$1,777$2,132202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent127133100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 21.7
Lean rent

At a 21.7 price-to-rent ratio, the math is starting to lean toward renting in Charlottesville. Owner-occupier ROI requires longer holds and the assumption that prices keep appreciating roughly at the rate of rent.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
52 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
65 · w22%
Distance from peak
89 · w18%
Population growth
30 · w16%
Rent YoY
62 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
63 · w10%
Long thesis

Charlottesville has held up across the cycle: home values at $522,850 with +4.9% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Charlottesville's population is shrinking 1.0% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Charlottesville

Charlottesville is a city in Charlottesville city, Virginia, with an estimated population of 44,767. The population has contracted 1.0% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Charlottesville is $522,850 as of 2026-04, up 0.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.9% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Charlottesville average $2,011 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+2.5%). The composite momentum score is 60 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.1% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Charlottesville has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -1.0% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Charlottesville (Wikipedia)

Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. The former capital of Virginia, it is named after Queen Charlotte. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 46,553. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Charlottesville with Albemarle County for statistical purposes, bringing its population to approximately 160,000. Charlottesville is the heart of the Charlottesville metropolitan area, which includes Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, and Nelson counties.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Charlottesville city right now.

NWS active alerts (VA)Virginia Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Charlottesville city routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Charlottesville

25 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Lewis Mountain$1,268,284+12.3%
2Venable$882,993+0.9%
3Blue Ridge-Rugby Ave$807,012-1.6%
4North Downtown$798,525+0.2%
5Charlottesville High$697,137+2.6%
6Downtown$646,185+1.3%
7Martha Jefferson$637,978+1.2%
8Kelly Town-Rugby Heights$636,291-2.4%
9Greenbrier$629,005+2.5%
10Little High$554,815+0.9%
11Johnson Village$533,565-0.6%
12North East$520,041+0.2%
13Fry Springs$487,202+0.4%
14Locust Grove$478,419+3.8%
15Ridge St$468,790-0.9%
16The Meadows$455,094-2.1%
17Woolen Mills$430,045-0.3%
18Belmont$425,214-1.1%
19Fifeville$400,745-1.0%
20Jefferson Park$380,713+3.1%
2110th and Page$377,330-4.9%
22Main-Starr Hill$344,005-3.3%
23Rose Hill$330,697-5.3%
24Orangedale-Prospect Ave$267,149+2.7%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like Charlottesville

Manassas Park, VA59 · StablePortsmouth, VA64 · RisingWinchester, VA64 · RisingManassas, VA62 · Rising

Run the numbers for Charlottesville

ToolCan I afford Charlottesville?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Charlottesville rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Charlottesville to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolCharlottesville cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
47° / 27°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
87° / 65°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
205
~56% of year
Annual precip
44″ rain
14″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Moderate
Tornado
Low
Wildfire
Low
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Charlottesville listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Charlottesville area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
70%
Humid climate
Median household income
$87,200
Virginia state median
Top industries (state-level)
Government/DefenseTech (NoVa)Shipbuilding

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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