Blacksburg is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia's largest university, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (better known as Virginia Tech).
Geography
\nBlacksburg is located at 37°13'48" North, 80°25'4" West (37.229874, -80.417694)1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 50.2 km² (19.4 mi²). 50.1 km² (19.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.10% water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 39,573 people, 13,162 households, and 4,777 families residing in the town. The population density is 789.2/km² (2,044.2/mi²). There are 13,732 housing units at an average density of 273.9/km² (709.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 84.39% White, 4.39% African American, 0.11% Native American, 7.80% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.90% from other races, and 2.36% from two or more races. 2.32% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 13,162 households out of which 16.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.7% are married couples living together, 5.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 63.7% are non-families. 26.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 3.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.37 and the average family size is 2.79.
Blacksburg's age distribution is: 9.7% under the age of 18, 57.4% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 9.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 22 years. This unusual age distribution is explained by the presence of Virginia Tech, which heavily skews the population toward the 18-24 group. For every 100 females there are 127.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 129.7 males. Virginia Tech's presence also explains the unusual sex distribution; it has large and well-regarded programs in several male-dominated academic fields, most notably engineering.
The median income for a household in the town is $22,513, and the median income for a family is $51,810. Males have a median income of $37,129 versus $24,321 for females. The per capita income for the town is $13,946. 43.2% of the population and 15.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 23.7% are under the age of 18 and 6.1% are 65 or older. However, traditional measures of poverty can be highly misleading when applied to communities with large student populations, such as Blacksburg.