Complete list
Population figures reflect the Census Bureau's official 2020 population census, [4] and geographic coordinates are derived from 2016 Census Bureau figures. [5]
| Settlements in Virginia |
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This is a complete list of towns in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. An incorporated town in Virginia is the equivalent of a city in most other states, i.e. a municipality which is part of a county. Incorporated cities in Virginia are independent jurisdictions and separate from any county. As of 2022 [update] , there are 189 incorporated towns and 227 municipalities, [1] some of which are more populous than many independent cities, but are not incorporated as cities and are therefore situated within a parent county or counties.
New towns may be incorporated but must have a minimum population of 1,000 residents. Cities with populations of less than 50,000 are eligible to become towns through reversion. [2] The newest town and newest former town are Bedford in Bedford County, which ceased to be an independent city in 2013, and St. Charles in Lee County, which disincorporated in 2022. [3] For a complete list of independent cities, see List of cities in Virginia . For major unincorporated population centers, see List of unincorporated communities in Virginia .
Population figures reflect the Census Bureau's official 2020 population census, [4] and geographic coordinates are derived from 2016 Census Bureau figures. [5]
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions.
In the United States, a county or county equivalent is an administrative or political subdivision of a U.S. state or other territories of the United States which consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The term "county" is used in 48 states, while Louisiana and Alaska have functionally equivalent subdivisions called parishes and boroughs, respectively. Counties and other local governments exist as a matter of U.S. state law, so the specific governmental powers of counties may vary widely between the states, with many providing some level of services to civil townships, municipalities, and unincorporated areas. Certain municipalities are in multiple counties; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five counties, referred to at the city government level as boroughs. Some municipalities have been consolidated with their county government to form consolidated city-counties, or have been legally separated from counties altogether to form independent cities. Conversely, counties in Connecticut and Rhode Island, eight of Massachusetts's 14 counties, and Alaska's Unorganized Borough have no government power, existing only as geographic distinctions.
Roanoke County is a county in the U.S. state of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 96,929. Its county seat is Salem, but the county administrative offices are located in the census-designated place of Cave Spring.
Bedford County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Bedford, which was an independent city from 1968 until rejoining the county in 2013.
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. There are many unincorporated communities and areas in the United States and Canada.
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
The town is the basic unit of local government and local division of state authority in the six New England states. Most other U.S. states lack a direct counterpart to the New England town. New England towns overlie the entire area of a state, similar to civil townships in other states where they exist, but they are fully functioning municipal corporations, possessing powers similar to cities and counties in other states. New Jersey's system of equally powerful townships, boroughs, towns, and cities is the system which is most similar to that of New England. New England towns are often governed by a town meeting, an assembly of eligible town residents. The great majority of municipal corporations in New England are based on the town model; there, statutory forms based on the concept of a compact populated place are uncommon, though elsewhere in the U.S. they are prevalent. County government in New England states is typically weak, and in some states nonexistent. Connecticut, for example, has no county governments, nor does Rhode Island. Both of those states retain counties only as geographic subdivisions with no governmental authority, while Massachusetts has abolished eight of fourteen county governments so far. Counties serve mostly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems and some other state services in the southern New England states while providing varying services in the more sparsely populated three northern New England states.
A Vermont municipality is a particular type of New England municipality. It is the basic unit of local government.
In the United States, an independent city is a city that is not in the territory of any county or counties and is considered a primary administrative division of its state. Independent cities are classified by the United States Census Bureau as "county equivalents" and may also have similar governmental powers to a consolidated city-county or a unitary authority. However, in the case of a consolidated city-county, a city and a county were merged into a unified jurisdiction in which the county at least nominally exists to this day, whereas an independent city was legally separated from any county or merged with a county that simultaneously ceased to exist even in name.
