Harrisonburg is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 51,082 people and 16 associated neighborhoods, Harrisonburg is the 17th largest community in Virginia.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Harrisonburg is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Harrisonburg is a city of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Harrisonburg who work in food service (10.01%), sales jobs (7.99%), and teaching (7.84%). Also of interest is that Harrisonburg has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.64% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Because Harrisonburg has a very large number of students who are 18 years or older and in college, it is thought of as a college town. This has a major influence on local Harrisonburg lifestyle, entertainment, and culture in general. Life in Harrisonburg is very much tied to the academic calendar: when students return from the summer break in the fall, one will notice them out and about, buying groceries, out with friends, and generally getting re-acquainted with each other. In Harrisonburg people study hard and play hard, and there is ample opportunity to do both. Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 17.97 minutes getting to work every day.The citizens of Harrisonburg are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 36.74% of adults in Harrisonburg have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Harrisonburg in 2022 was $27,957, which is lower middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $111,828 for a family of four. However, Harrisonburg contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Harrisonburg is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Harrisonburg home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Harrisonburg residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Harrisonburg also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 23.09% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Harrisonburg include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Swiss. Foreign born people are also an important part of Harrisonburg's cultural character, accounting for 17.33% of the city’s population. The most common language spoken in Harrisonburg is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Slavic languages.
