Living in Wise, VA
Wise is a small town of 2,916 people in Wise County, Virginia. It's about 32 miles from Kingsport, TN and 156 miles from Charlotte, NC, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 81°F and winter highs 43°F, with about 47 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $145k and rent runs about $825 a month.
2,916people
$145kTypical home
$825/moRent
81° / 43°Summer / winter
47"Snow
218Sunny days
162Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 2,916
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 960 people per sq mi
- 156 mi to Charlotte, NC
- 32 mi to Kingsport, TN
- 32 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $145k (≈$912/mo)
- Median rent $825/mo
- Median household income $54k
- Property tax about 0.6% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 81°F
- Winter highs around 43°F
- Somewhat humid summers (dew point 62°F)
- 218 sunny days a year (76 totally clear)
- 147 cloudy days a year
- 50 of 90 winter days are gray
- 162 days a year with rain or snow
- 47" of snow a year
- 14 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- 8 nights a year below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (170 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,198 per 100k)
People
- Median age 37
- 25% of households have kids
- 18% are 65 or older
- 24% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 3% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 22 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 36 mi to TRI airport
- 113 mi to TYS (major hub)
- 100 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 59% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1982
- 94% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 2,471 ft
- 293 mi to the ocean
- 156 mi to a big lake
- 24 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 21 mi to the nearest ski area
- 5 mi to the nearest campground
- 6 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 51 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- Few or no bars within 25 mi
- 3 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 10 museums within 25 mi
- 1 brewery or distillery within 25 mi
- Farmers market in town
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 26% of Virginia districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 14 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 14 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 30 mi to the nearest dog park
- 8 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
Politics
- Wise County: R+63 in 2024
- Virginia: D+6 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Low tornado risk
- High wildfire risk
- Low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Moderate winter storm risk
- Very low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk