A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Narrows$1,040/mo

Typical home $174K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.86% · or rent about $931/mo · Housing →

Glade Spring$1,150/mo

Typical home $199K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.62% · or rent about $888/mo · Housing →

The difference: $110 a month, about $1,300 a year, between Glade Spring and Narrows.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Grades and rankings, side by side

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every Virginia ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

–NarrowsNot graded C+Glade SpringSafer than 38% of U.S. towns

Schools

B−NarrowsBetter than 51% of districts in the state –Glade SpringNot graded

Health

C+NarrowsHealthier than 38% of U.S. towns C+Glade SpringHealthier than 41% of U.S. towns

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

NarrowsGlade Spring

Snow a year23″10″

January low23°F 23°F

July high83°F 84°F

Growing season (days)171d 178d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)37th 20th

Outdoors & history

NarrowsGlade Spring

National Register places1 1

Archive photos12 —

Community

NarrowsGlade Spring

Library hours a week35 hrs 40 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

65 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

NarrowsVA Glade SpringVA

Narrows ↔ Glade Spring65 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs Virginia average

NarrowsGlade Spring

People

Population 1,935Lowest 2,135Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +3.2%Highest VA: +7.9% -6.1%Lowest VA: +7.9%

Median age 36.9±6.9Lowest 5% below VA 39.1±11.7Highest about the VA average

Glade Spring and Narrows are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 31.7%±8.9Highest VA: 21.7% 27%±7.5Lowest VA: 21.7%

Narrows and Glade Spring are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 15.2%±5.7Lowest VA: 16.7% 18.1%±7.6Highest VA: 16.7%

Glade Spring and Narrows are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 19.8%Lowest VA: 42.2% 24.9%Highest VA: 42.2%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 1.1%±1.2Lowest VA: 6.9% 2.7%±1.6Highest VA: 6.9%

Glade Spring and Narrows are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $62,708±$6kLowest 33% below VA $81,298±$9kHighest 13% below VA

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $119,400±$15kLowest 69% below VA $174,300±$20kHighest 55% below VA

Rentmedian gross, monthly $931±$181Highest 41% below VA $888±$345Lowest 44% below VA

Narrows and Glade Spring are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $1,027Lowest 63% below VA $1,080Highest 61% below VA

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 29.1%±19.5Highest VA: 48.5% 11.8%±15.8Lowest VA: 48.5%

Narrows and Glade Spring are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 7.1%Highest VA: 9.9% 5.4%Lowest VA: 9.9%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 78.2%Lowest VA: 67.3% 82.1%Highest VA: 67.3%

Typical home builtmedian year 1946Lowest 38 yrs older than VA 1971Highest 13 yrs older than VA

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 28 minHighest about the VA average 21 minLowest 24% below VA

Work from home 6%±4.6Highest VA: 18.3% 3.2%±2.5Lowest VA: 18.3%

Narrows and Glade Spring are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 1.6% 1.6%

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 20.3 miHighest 15.3 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.32Highest 0.22Lowest

Top workplaceoutside town Blacksburg (15%)Abingdon (16%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in Glade SpringFew work in Narrows

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 1%Lowest 1.2%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.3 miHighest 0.1 miLowest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.2 miHighest 0.1 miLowest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 0 0

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 114Highest 66.1Lowest

Schools

School district Giles County Public Schools—

High school in town Narrows High—

Students per teacherat that high school 10.7 —

Virginia average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Narrows neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Narrows’s Town Square.

Glade Spring neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Glade Spring’s Town Square.

Add a town

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Towns like Narrows

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Not sure which town to add? Find your place ranks Virginia towns on what matters to you.Find your place →

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Narrows vs Glade Spring

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs about the same each month

Grades and rankings, side by side

What daily life feels like in each

65 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Narrows and Glade Spring

Towns like Narrows

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