Harrisonburg is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 51,158 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 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. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 7.59% 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. In addition, Harrisonburg is a major college town that has a very high percentage of its residents over 18 years old who are college students. Naturally, collegiate life has a major influence on local Harrisonburg culture, lifestyle and entertainment options. Harrisonburg really pulses to the beat of the academic calendar. In Harrisonburg every fall, returning students reinvigorate the community, who you will notice are all over town, buying groceries, out with friends, and getting acquainted or re-acquainted with each other and Harrisonburg. One of the beneficial effects that colleges provide is that they tend to be lasting institutions that deliver direct economic benefits to the local economy in the form of such things as jobs for faculty and staff, and spending by students. Harrisonburg benefits directly from this. 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 18.14 minutes getting to work every day.The population of Harrisonburg is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 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.
