Nelson, Virginia.
Typical home $171,343 (+3.7% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$374 (+71%) since Feb 2022.
- 1 year
- Up $6,128 +4%
- $165,214$171,343 since Sep 2025
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.
- Nelson$899
- Virginia$2,164
- United States$1,922
Typical home values in Nelson, VA rose 3.7% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Nelson, Mecklenburg County, Virginia
The Census does not count Nelson on its own, so the figures here are Mecklenburg County's. Half the county's households earn more than $57,045 a year and half less; 16% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 68% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 32% are rented. Unemployment in Mecklenburg County was 4.0% in August 2026, and the county had 1.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Mecklenburg County work in schools and health care, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Nelson is a small community in Mecklenburg County, in the Southside region of south-central Virginia. Across the county, most homes are lived in by their owners, and the typical household income is modest. A noticeable share of people live below the poverty line, and the median age is high, so many residents are well into midlife or beyond. The Census does not count Nelson on its own, so the county's figures are the closest guide to life here.
Work. Residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, shops, professional and business services, and manufacturing. Unemployment in the county has stayed fairly low, and the number of jobs there grew over the most recent year. Working from home is uncommon, so most people drive to their jobs, and a minority of adults hold a four-year degree. Winters are colder than in most of the country, while summers are hot. Snow is light, but the area gets a good deal of rain across the year.
Things to do. Staunton River State Park, a protected area a short drive away, is a good choice for time outdoors. Occoneechee State Park, also a short drive away, is a museum and worth a visit for local history. For a longer outing, Kerr Lake is a reservoir a longer drive away.
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- 13,569households
- 49.2median age
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 16%below the poverty line
- 26 mintypical commute
- 8%work from home
What people in Mecklenburg County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Mecklenburg County had 11,904 jobs in 2025, 1.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 50° and lows near 28°; warmest in July, with highs near 90° and lows near 69°. About 4 inches of snow and 46 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Clarksville weather station, 8 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Mecklenburg County
- Mecklenburg County Public SchoolsSchool district755FTE
- Community Memorial HospitalGeneral hospital601FTE
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters304
- The Shade StoreShade manufacturing168
- Clarksville Health & RehabSkilled nursing facilities138
- Food LionGrocery stores90
- Mecklenburg Electric Chase City DistrictDistribution of electric power71
- Food LionGrocery stores69
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 18 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,299 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); 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
- DroughtRelatively high
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Mecklenburg County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. 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 Mecklenburg County.
Nelson home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Nelson$171,343
- Virginia$412,252
- United States$366,157
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.
Zip codes with a Nelson address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Nelson — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.