Galax, Virginia.
Typical home $188,547 (+7.9% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$548 (+124%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $13,753 +8%
- $174,794$188,547 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $43,320 +30%
- $145,227$188,547 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Galax$990
- Virginia$2,164
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 13 years.
Typical home values in Galax, VA rose 7.9% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Galax, Grayson County, Virginia
Galax is a city of 6,720 people in Grayson County. Half its households earn more than $38,675 a year and half less, against $47,730 across Grayson County; 31% of its people live below the poverty line. 56% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 44% are rented. Unemployment in Galax was 3.5% in August 2026, and Grayson County had 4.7% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Galax is a small city in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, set within Grayson County. Most homes are lived in by their owners, though renters make up a real part of the town. Incomes run below the county's, and a good many residents live below the poverty line. Winters are cold and snowy, summers are warm, and rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Schools, hospitals and social care employ more of the town's residents than any other field, followed by shops, manufacturing, and professional and business services. Among the largest workplaces in Galax are Twin County Regional Hospital, Galax City Public Schools and Walmart. Unemployment is no higher than it was a year ago, though Grayson County has fewer jobs than it did the year before. Commutes are fairly short, and few people work from home.
Things to do. The Blue Ridge Music Center, a museum a short drive away, is one of the closest places to spend an afternoon. Chestnut Creek, a river a short drive away, and Big Spring Bog Natural Area Preserve, a protected area also a short drive away, suit anyone who likes to be outdoors. For a longer outing, Stone Mountain State Park is a protected area a longer drive away.
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- 2,763households
- 19%of adults have a degree
- 31%below the poverty line
- 23 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Grayson County had 3,254 jobs in 2025, 4.7% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 23°; warmest in July, with highs near 82° and lows near 61°. About 17 inches of snow and 46 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Galax Radio Wbrf weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Galax
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters381
- Life Center of GalaxPsychiatric and substance abuse hospitals324
- Twin County Regional HospitalGeneral hospital310FTE
- Galax City Public SchoolsSchool district228FTE
- Saber HealthcareHomes for the elderly with nursing care143
- K VA T Food StoresSupermarket117
- Turman Hardwood FlooringWood flooring manufacturing101
- Moog Inc. - GalaxCircuit boards, printed, bare, manufacturing46
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 8 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,456 people in all. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and school districts from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Cold wavesVery high
- Strong windRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- Ice stormsRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Galax’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Grayson County.
Galax home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Galax$188,547
- Virginia$412,252
- United States$366,157
Levy by levy, and a check of one home’s own bill, the site covers Ohio’s property tax.
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 4 Galax listings — the market is roughly in balance.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Galax28.24%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Galax58
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Galax15
Zip codes with a Galax address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Galax — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.