CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A new report by the University of Virginia’s Center for Community Partnerships found approximately one in three families with children in seven localities in the Charlottesville area do not make enough money to meet their basic needs.

The report, titled “titled “Realizing Our Potential: Orange Dot Report 7.0,” was done on behalf of the UVA Center for Community Partnerships, which pursues the goal of helping the community in which the University is located, as well as Network2Work USA, a non-profit that equips community colleges to recruit non-traditional students and connect them to quality jobs with regional employers.

“In the larger Charlottesville region, 22,467 families (32%) do not make enough money to meet their basic needs, including the cost of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, phone, internet, and taxes,” the report’s executive summary said.  “Rising costs and inflation combined with stagnant wages and undervalued labor has made it increasingly difficult for families to be self-sufficient.”

The report includes data from the City of Charlottesville along with Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson counties.

“Housing is by far the biggest driver of what kind of income you have to earn around here in order to survive. And in Charlottesville, if you pay rent for a typical family, you’re paying $1800-a-month for your 2-bedroom apartment which is $22,000 a year in rent,” Ridge Schuyler, founder and CEO of Network2Work USA and a survey author, said. “Note that if you get paid minimum wage and work full-time in Charlottesville, you make $26,000 a year. So, you make $26,000 and $22,000 of that, if you’re paying market rates, go to the landlord. So that is very little to pay for your car, your gas and other things.”

The 73-page report covered how much families need to meet basic needs in each individual localities, specifically in regard to the cost differences that exist, how many families actually meet that mark, and the demographics among those families. The study found the “average annual survival budget” for families ranged from $66,000 in Buckingham to $87,000 in Charlottesville.

The report found one-in-three families with children under the age of 18 don’t meet their basic needs, compared to one-in-five families without children. As a whole, 56% of Black families, 47% of Hispanic families and 28% of white families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs.

The largest demographic disparity was in Charlottesville. The survey found approximately 3,135 families, or 35%, earn below their household’s survival budget. The percentage of Black families is 81%, and Hispanic families 59%. The percentage of white families is 20% which is a disparity of 61% and 39% respectively.

“The median family income for Charlottesville City is $119,149,” according to the report. “The tract with the lowest median family income is 10th & Page-Venable at $38,000. The tract with the highest median family income is Barracks-Rugby at $239,000.”

City Manager Sam Sanders told Cville Right Now the city leadership is fully aware of the overall need and the huge disparities.

“I mean that’s the reason we have a Chief Prosperity Officer position in my office, that’s Joshua Barr, he’s new he’s been working on the ground the past two months,” Sanders said. “We have (an) Economic Mobility Officer whose part of the national program we are participating in along with our industry group ICMA (International City/County Management Association).”

Abigail Wade began working in the newly created Economic Mobility Officer position last January.

“Abby is doing some work with community members, trying to design how we can make changes and make sure people can thrive, so that’s what our focus has been,” Sanders said.

Sanders said these priorities have not existed before “at this depth and intention,” and it is the city’s response to reports like the Orange Dot.

Overall, Buckingham has the highest precentage of families struggling at 41%, while Albemarle has the lowest at 27%.

“Most localities in our region have areas where over half (50%) of families have less than family-sufficient incomes,” the summary said. “Albemarle, Fluvanna, and the City of Charlottesville each have neighborhoods where 3 in 4 families (75%) do not earn enough to meet the local cost of living.”

While Albemarle County’s 27% has the lowest percentage of families trying to make ends meet, it has the largest raw number at 7,552.

22% of Albemarle’s white families live below that survival budget, in addition to 55% of Black and 46% of Hispanic families. Those differences are 32% and 24% respectively.

“The median family income for Albemarle County is $137,355,” according to the report.  “The tract with the lowest median family income is Oak Hill, Southwood at $50,000. The tract with the highest median family income is Ivy at $222,000.

“The tract with the highest percent of families with income below the average survival budget is Hydraulic with 73% of families. The tract with the lowest percent of families not earning enough to meet their basic needs is Polo Grounds Road with 3% of families.”

“These findings reinforce the need to focus local resources on residents facing the greatest vulnerabilities and challenges here in our community,” Albemarle County Chief Human Service Officer Kaki Dimock told Cville Right Now. “Albemarle County discussed similar concerns during the Board of Supervisors meeting in July 2026 during a presentation on a human services needs assessment, and the Board directed staff to prioritize services for residents experiencing housing instability or homelessness and households experiencing poverty that include young children, older adults, or people with disabilities or medical vulnerabilities.

“The Board also prioritized funding for organizations that provide direct services, including food, shelter, and community-based mental health support. Staff will continue to explore multi-disciplinary teams focused on problem solving to improve well-being and address needs before they become crises.”

She added that direction will guide human services and affordable housing decisions.

Although the raw numbers are lower, the report said “Buckingham and Greene counties have the highest share of families unable to meet basic needs, at 41%.”

While Charlottesville and Albemarle have large demographic disparities, the issue is regionwide.

“More than half of Black families (56%) and nearly half of Hispanic families (47%) do not earn enough to meet basic needs, compared with 28% of white families,” the report summary said.

The report also said that “Among workers in struggling families, 64% work at least 40 hours per week, and half earn less than $30,000 annually.”

“It’s not the hard work, it’s the low wage,” Schuyler said. “So that is really I think is so important to focus on because here are folks working every day trying to support their families and the question is, could their labor become more valuable in the marketplace so that they actually do bring home a paycheck that supports themselves and their children?”

The report includes a table of types of jobs and corresponding wages that fall into the different earning bands, and said, “Note that a number of the lowest-paying jobs provide some of the highest value for our society: caring for our children when they’re young and our parents when they’re old. These jobs require them to sacrifice for our benefit by working for less pay than they can live on.”

The table noted the annual median wages of home health and personal care aides ($29,700) childcare workers ($34,130) emergency medical technicians ($39,760) and healthcare support along with medical, nursing, and dental assistants, which is between $41,000 and $45,000. Fast food and counter workers were at $30,150 and cashiers $30,930.

Schuyler said low income is not a constant.

“In my mind, the very first step in making that change is to talk to the employers who have the jobs that pay enough for someone to support their families, and we are blessed in our community with so many quality employers that do pay decent wages to their workers, and the next step is we have quality jobs that are going unfilled,” he said. “I think the challenge is a lot of folks working 40 hours a week or more don’t have the bandwidth to think about what should my next job be as they’re just trying to get their kids off to the school bus and off to their own jobs and hope their car doesn’t break down.”