Independence is a very small town located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 1,010 people and just one neighborhood, Independence is the 287th largest community in Virginia.
Unlike some towns, Independence isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Independence are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Independence is a town of professionals, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Independence who work in architecture and engineering (11.65%), law enforcement and fire fighting (10.57%), and teaching (8.67%).
The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Independence has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Independence a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.
The percentage of adults in Independence who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 19.01% of the adults in Independence have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Independence in 2022 was $29,591, which is lower middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $118,364 for a family of four. However, Independence contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Independence is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Independence home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Independence residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Independence include English, Irish, Scottish, German, and European.
The most common language spoken in Independence is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Independence, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
An interesting characteristic about the neighborhood is that there are more incarcerated people living here than 99.2% of neighborhoods in the U.S. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, currently with 1 out of every 100 adults in the country are incarcerated as a punishment for crimes committed. The extremely high incarceration rate of this neighborhood could mean that a prison, juvenile detention facility or other correctional facility occupies a large proportion of the neighborhood, or contains a large portion of the neighborhood's population.
Despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 32.1%, which is higher than 95.6% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Independence are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 91.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 6.7% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 59.4% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 33.5% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 32.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (19.4%), and 12.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.5% of households. Some people also speak Italian (2.8%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Independence, VA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (9.0%). There are also a number of people of Spanish ancestry (5.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (4.5%), and some of the residents are also of German ancestry (4.3%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (3.1%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (43.7% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (76.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (13.7%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.