Blacksburg, Virginia

Blacksburg
	Blacksburg
	Blacksburg
Basic data
Foundation :	1798
State :	United States
State :	Virginia
County :	Montgomery County
Coordinates :	37 ° 14 ′ N , 80 ° 25 ′ W Coordinates: 37 ° 14 ′ N , 80 ° 25 ′ W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Inhabitants : ; - Metropolitan Area :	45,038 (as of 2016); 182,876 (as of 2016)
Population density :	899 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	50.2 km 2 (approx. 19 mi 2 ) of; which 50.1 km 2 (approx. 19 mi 2 ) is land
Height :	633 m
Postcodes :	24060-24063
Area code :	+1 540
FIPS :	51-07784
GNIS ID :	1498405
Website :	www.blacksburg.gov
Mayor :	Ron Rordam

Blacksburg is an American city in Montgomery County , Virginia .

The city has a population of about 45,000 and is home to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , better known as Virginia Tech, founded in 1872 .

history

Blacksburg was founded in 1798 by William Black, after whom the city is named, on an area of just under 0.154 km² (38 acres ). The city limits were then slightly northeast of an earlier settlement from 1748, Draper's Meadow , which had been the scene of the 1755 Draper's Meadow massacre . Smithfield Plantation , established around 1772 by Col. William B. Preston, is roughly on the site of this earlier settlement.

During the 1970s - with the incorporation of the university and a few other areas into the urban area - Blacksburg's population more than tripled from 9,000 to 30,000.

Building of the Virginia Tech

Downtown Blacksburg

The Virginia Tech campus consists of more than 100 buildings spread across the world. On April 16, 2007, there was a rampage there , which to date claimed the most deaths in a rampage at a university in the United States (see rampage at Virginia Tech ).

Population development

year	Residents¹
1980	30,638
1990	34,590
2000	39,573
2010	42,607
2016	45,038

¹ 1980-2010 : census results; 2016: Update of the US Census Bureau

geography

Blacksburg is about 50.2 km² in size. Of this, 50.1 km² is land and 0.1 km² is water. The city is on average 634 m above sea level.

The tallest building is Slusher Tower , a twelve-story student residence on the university campus .

population

Of the city's 39,573 residents in the 2000 US Census , 23,895 (approximately 60 percent of the total population) were college students.

According to the census, there were 13,162 households and 4,777 families in 2000 . The population density is 789.2 inhabitants / square kilometer. The residents lived in 13,732 apartments (273.9 apartments per square kilometer). The population is 84.39% white, 4.39% African American, 0.11% Native American, 7.80% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islanders, 0.90% other and 2.36% with mixed race. 2.32% of the population of Blacksburg is Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Children under the age of 18 live in 16.3% of households and married couples live in 28.7%. 5.3% of households are led by single women and 65.7% of households do not form families. 26.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 3.7% have an individual who is older than 65 years. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 2.79.

9.7% of the population is under 18 years old, 57.4% are between 18 and 24, 18.9% between 25 and 44 years, 9.2% between 45 and 64 years and 4.9% are 65 years old or older. The average age is 22 years. For every 100 women there are 127 men. The atypical distribution of age groups and between men and women is caused by Virginia Tech , as it is geared towards academic fields that are mostly attended by male students, such as engineering .

The median income per household is $ 22,513 and the median income per family is $ 51,810. Males have a median income of $ 37,129; that of the women is $ 24,321. The per capita income is $ 13,946. 43.2% of the population and 15.9% of families are below the poverty line . 23.7% of those under 18 and 6.1% of those over 65 live below the poverty line. These values are also influenced by the high number of students.

economy

In the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Park various activities are based, among other things, VTLS and Honeywell . The National Weather Service maintains its headquarters for southwest Virginia here.