Radford is a medium-sized city located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 16,738 people and six associated neighborhoods, Radford is the 58th largest community in Virginia.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Radford is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Radford is a city of professionals, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Radford who work in food service (12.60%), sales jobs (11.92%), and teaching (11.01%). Also of interest is that Radford has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Radford is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Radford to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town. The citizens of Radford are among the most well-educated in the nation: 44.78% of adults in Radford have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Radford in 2022 was $24,835, which is low income relative to Virginia, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $99,340 for a family of four. However, Radford contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Radford also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 33.79% of its population below the federal poverty line.Radford is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Radford home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Radford residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Radford include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Radford is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
