County Maps US

Nelson County, Virginia

A county in Virginia, ranked 100 of 133 by population.

CountyFIPS 51125

Within Virginia
Nelson County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Lovingston, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
14,920
+183 (+1.2%) since 2020
Land area
470.7
square miles. A further 0.7% of the total area is water
Population density
31.7
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Lovingston
Seat of county government.
Established
1807
218 years ago
Largest city
Not available
No incorporated place lies within this county.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Nelson County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Nelson County, Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 672 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Nelson County ranks

Position among the 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn VirginiaNationally
Population14,920100th of 1332,101st of 3,144
Land area470.7 sq mi32nd of 1332,190th of 3,144
Population density31.7 per sq mi120th of 1331,873rd of 3,144
Median household income$72,58959th of 1331,007th of 3,143

Full data for Nelson County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population14,920Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202014,737Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?14,769Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area470.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area3.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area474.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?31.7 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$72,589American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$321,700American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age51.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,364American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units9,995American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-55
139 births, 194 deaths
Net migration
+160
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Nelson County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Amherst CountyVirginia34 mi31,962
Augusta CountyVirginia31 mi78,940
Albemarle CountyVirginia29 mi118,356
Buckingham CountyVirginia27 mi17,137
Rockbridge CountyVirginia8.1 mi22,663
Appomattox CountyVirginia3.8 mi17,172

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia

Open the interactive Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.