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Richmond37.7600° N 77.4900° W

Hanover.

109,979 residents across 474 square miles, seated at Hanover Courthouse.

One of 12 areas our Richmond team works.

At a glanceHanover Courthouse

The publicrecord.

What the county and the census hold on Hanover — quoted, not estimated.

468 square miles north of Richmond, formed in 1720, and deliberately still mostly rural — about 235 people to the square mile against Henrico's suburban density. Growth is concentrated in the south, around Mechanicsville and Atlee.

Agriculture is the identity rather than a leftover: the Hanover tomato has its own festival, running since 1978 and the largest single-day event in the county.

It is also the fiscal outlier. Hanover holds a top rating from all four rating agencies and has kept the lowest real estate rate in the region, which shows up directly in what a household pays here against a neighboring county.

Hanover, Virginia
Type
County
County seat
Hanover Courthouse
Population (2020)
109,979
Land area
474 sq mi
Communities we cover
7
Established
1720
Real estate tax rate
$0.81 per $100

Figures from Wikidata, population as of 2020. The tax rate is published by the county and set annually; check the current year before budgeting.

Where it is37.7600° N 77.4900° W

Where isHanover?

The nearest of our other Richmond areas is Henrico, 15 miles off.

  • 19 mi

    Central Richmond

    north of center

  • 49 mi

    Williamsburg

    south-east

  • 53 mi

    Northern Neck

    east

  • 59 mi

    Charlottesville

    north-west

Distances are straight-line, not driving.

Getting around.

Two interstates cross the county and the older US routes still do the local work.

  • I-95

    Bisects the county with four interchanges into the interior — the reason the distribution and logistics base sits where it does.

  • I-295

    Four more interchanges across the southern half, linking Mechanicsville and Atlee to the rest of the region without going through Richmond.

  • US-1, US-301, US-360 and US-33

    The routes that actually reach the rural interior, where the interstates do not.

  • Rail and air

    Amtrak stops at Ashland — eleven northbound and twelve southbound trains on a weekday. The county runs its own 200-acre municipal airport with a 5,400-foot runway.

Inside the county7 communities

Every communitywe cover.

5 of them have homes on the market today. Each figure is live, and opens that search.

13259 Greenwood Church Rd, Ashland, Virginia
On the market13259 Greenwood Church RdAshland, VA 23005
  • 68AshlandSee the homes

    Incorporated in 1858 and named for Henry Clay's Kentucky estate, having started as a railroad mineral-springs resort. About seven square miles and 7,000 people, calling itself the Center of the Universe; Randolph-Macon College moved here in 1868.

  • 128MechanicsvilleSee the homes

    The county's suburban center in the south, and where the Hanover Tomato Festival is held each July at Pole Green Park.

  • 14DoswellSee the homes

    Home of Kings Dominion — 400 acres, more than 60 rides and thirteen roller coasters, plus a 20-acre waterpark — and one of the county's largest employers.

  • 0Atleenone on the market today

    A southern suburban community with one of the division's four high schools; Route 301 through it is a long-running widening question.

  • 18BeaverdamSee the homes

    Where Scotchtown stands: built around 1719, Patrick Henry's home from 1771 to 1778, and probably the largest one-story colonial house in Virginia. A National Historic Landmark since 1965.

  • 0Cold Harbornone on the market today

    A county battlefield park surrounding the Garthright House, with Civil War trenches and rifle pits still legible along a paved interpretive trail.

  • 32MontpelierSee the homes

    A western community whose park carries the recreation center and library, along with playing fields and walking trails.

Living here6 reasons

The case forHanover.

The figures above read plainly, and what they look like day to day. Where something is a trade-off, it says so.

  • Space

    232 people to the square mile.

    Hanover is the 6th densest of the 12 Richmond areas we hold both figures for. Things are close together here, which is the trade: less land, less driving.

  • Scale

    109,979 people, as of 2020.

    The 3rd largest of the 12 Richmond areas we hold a count for — big enough for a steady market without being the busiest one.

  • The line that matters

    Hanover, seated at Hanover Courthouse.

    In Virginia the county sets the rate, runs the school division and maintains the roads — and the lines do not follow the place names, so two houses a mile apart can sit under different rates and different schools.

  • The trade

    The lowest rate in the region, on the highest values.

    $0.81 per $100 is the regional floor, but the median owner-occupied home runs about $400,400 and median household income about $112,805 — both well above the market. Owner-occupancy is 82%, which is the real tell: this is a place people settle rather than pass through.

  • A college town in it

    Randolph-Macon has been in Ashland since 1868.

    Founded in 1830 and the oldest of its kind still running in the United States, on a 125-acre campus with nearly 1,800 students. It is why Ashland reads as a town with a center rather than a crossroads.

  • The ground is the history

    Two battlefields and Patrick Henry's house.

    Cold Harbor and Totopotomoy Creek are both National Park Service ground here, and Scotchtown at Beaverdam was Patrick Henry's home from 1771 — also the childhood home of Dolley Payne, later Madison.

Hanover on Wikipedia
SchoolsHanover County Public Schools

Schools andcolleges.

About 16,800 students across 24 schools in 2024–25 — the fifteenth largest of Virginia's 131 divisions, and small enough to run one program across all four high schools.

  • Hanover County Public Schools

    Fourteen elementary, four middle and four high schools, plus two specialty centers. The International Baccalaureate diploma program runs at all four high schools.

  • Randolph-Macon College

    In Ashland since 1868, founded 1830, and the oldest college of its kind in continuous operation in the United States. Around 1,800 students on 125 acres.

  • Attendance zones

    Set by the division and reviewed periodically, so confirm the school serving a specific address rather than assuming from the town name.

Outdoors4 of them

Where theweekends go.

Two rivers, two national battlefields and a park system with real acreage behind it.

  • Poor Farm Park

    205 acres near Ashland with nature and mountain-biking trails, alongside lighted diamonds and multipurpose fields.

  • Cold Harbor Battlefield

    National Park Service ground from the battle of 31 May to 12 June 1864, with marked walking trails and a one-mile driving tour. The national cemetery holds more than 2,000 Union dead, over 1,300 of them unknown.

  • Totopotomoy Creek at Rural Plains

    124 acres given to the Park Service in 2006, around a house built about 1725 where Patrick Henry married Sarah Shelton. It was struck by artillery at least fifty times in May 1864.

  • Rivers and the Fall Line Trail

    Public launches on the Pamunkey, the North Anna and two on the South Anna. The 43-mile Fall Line Trail runs from Ashland to Petersburg; Ashland's Trolley Line Trail was its first stretch.

On the market288 in Hanover · live

Homes on themarket now.

On the market in Hanover right now.

8131 Kiwi Ln, Mechanicsville, VA

8131 Kiwi Ln

Mechanicsville, VA 23111

  • $415,000
  • 4 beds
  • 3 baths
  • 2,005 sqft
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All Hanover listings
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Homes inHanover.

The search opens already filtered to Hanover — set a price and a bedroom count here and they travel with you.

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Your team36 in Richmond

People who livewhere they sell.

Richmond is led by 5 team leads, Carrie Akins and Christopher Alexander among others.

Meet the whole team
Nearby11 more in Richmond

The rest ofRichmond.

Same team, same standard, 11 other places — nearest first.

Questions5 answered

What peopleask us.

Asked often enough by people moving to Hanover to be worth answering in writing.

Rural in most of its area and suburban in the south, with Mechanicsville and Atlee carrying the density and the rest still farmland. Ashland gives it something unusual for this market — an actual town center with a college in it.

$0.81 per $100 of assessed value, which the county describes as the lowest rate in the region and has held through recent budgets. Bills come twice a year, due 5 June and 5 October. The rate is set annually, so check the current year.

It is what most people move here for: 24 schools for about 16,800 students, the International Baccalaureate diploma at all four high schools, and an owner-occupancy rate of 82%. Confirm the attendance zone for a specific address.

Higher than the market around it — median owner-occupied value about $400,400 on median household income near $112,805, from the 2020–2024 census estimates. Population was up about 6% on the 2020 count by mid-2025, so demand is real.

Kings Dominion at Doswell is the obvious one. Beyond it: two National Park Service battlefields, Patrick Henry's Scotchtown at Beaverdam, four public river launches, and the tomato festival every July.

Sources · checked September 14, 2026

Tax rates · School division · Why Hanover · Parks · Cold Harbor · Scotchtown · Randolph-Macon · Census

Thinking of selling

What is your Hanover homeactually worth?

Mike Hogan founded the brokerage on knowing the county rather than the listing. Ask what that means for this street — or take a cash offer from a local investor and skip the showings entirely. Neither route commits you to the other.

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