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.Harrisonburg is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-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 sales jobs (9.22%), food service (9.03%), and teaching (8.04%). 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. A relatively large number of people in Harrisonburg telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.59% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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. Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Harrisonburg spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 18.14 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.The citizens of Harrisonburg are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 35.19% of adults in Harrisonburg have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Harrisonburg in 2022 was $25,881, which is lower middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $103,524 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 20.78% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Harrisonburg include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Swiss. Harrisonburg also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 17.58%. The most common language spoken in Harrisonburg is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
