NRV Ranks Among Top 25 Best Performing Small Cities in the US
Virginia’s New River Valley ranks among the top 25 best-performing small cities in the U.S. according to the Milken Institute.
March 11, 2025
Virginia’s New River Valley ranks among the top 25 best-performing small cities in the U.S. according to the Milken Institute.
Virginia’s New River Valley was Virginia’s second fastest growing economy in 2023, second only to Charlottesville.
Blacksburg’s tailgating atmosphere embodies the New River Valley, a region defined by welcoming and inclusive small towns. In fact, in 2016, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg were ranked #6 for having great town-gown relations by the Princeton Review in response to their annual survey which asked students whether they got along with their local community.
The New River Valley is among the top college destinations in the country, according to the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).
WalletHub’s data team compared communities in Virginia across 21 key indicators of family-friendliness.
Singletracks.com has ranked Virginia Tech a top 10 Best US College/University for Mountain Bikers.
This summer, five towns (technically four towns and one city) were voted to top spots in the Happiest Mountain Towns reader poll by Blue Ridge Country magazine. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Floyd, and Pulaski all received top honors in the magazine’s rankings which used quantitative data like unemployment rates and commute times as a baseline, but also accounted for readers’ passions for their hometowns.
Canoe & Kayak featured an article titled, “(Next) Best Paddling Towns: Pembroke, VA Exploring the New River Water Trail through Giles County, Va.”
New River Valley, VA – The New River Valley is one of the hottest places in America for new and expanding business, according to Area Development. The magazine recently released its ranking of the top 100 Leading Locations in the U.S. for 2016.
The Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford metropolitan statistical area (MSA), encompassing the entire New River Valley, ranked No. 30 overall and No. 12 among mid-sized metros with populations between 160,000 to 600,000. The New River Valley was one of only two metros in Virginia designated a Leading Location. Richmond, VA made the list at No. 68 overall.
Two New River Valley towns are among the safest places in Virginia, according to BackgroundChecks.org. The public safety focused organization recently ranked the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg on its 2016 list of the 25 Safest Cities in Virginia. BackgroundChecks.org had this to say about Blacksburg and Christiansburg:
#6 Blacksburg “Located in Montgomery County, Blacksburg is a town that has a current population of 42,600 residents. Best known as the home of Virginia Tech, the town was named by Business Week as one of the best places in the U.S. to raise kids and by Southern Living as the Best College Town in the South. The violent crime rate here is 90.6, and residents of Blacksburg have a 1.1% chance of being involved in a property crime.”
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