Ferrum is a very small town located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 1,827 people and two associated neighborhoods, Ferrum is the 227th largest community in Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Ferrum was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic towns in the country.Ferrum is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 90.96% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Ferrum is a town of service providers, sales and office workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Ferrum who work in sales jobs (16.73%), personal care services (13.31%), and teaching (11.23%). Of important note, Ferrum is also a town of artists. Ferrum has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Ferrum’s character. Also of interest is that Ferrum 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 Ferrum telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 9.81% 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. Ferrum is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Ferrum area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Ferrum maintain a good economy. One of the benefits of Ferrum is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.46 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.The citizens of Ferrum are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 24.59% of adults in Ferrum having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree. The per capita income in Ferrum in 2022 was $13,150, which is low income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $52,600 for a family of four. However, Ferrum contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Ferrum also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 37.86% of its population below the federal poverty line.Ferrum is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Ferrum home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Ferrum residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Ferrum include English, Scottish, German, Welsh, and Polish. The most common language spoken in Ferrum is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
