Vienna, Virginia

Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, and a suburb of Washington D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Vienna had a population of 16,473.

On June 17, 1861, the Battle of Vienna, one of the earliest armed clashes of the American Civil War, was fought in Vienna. A Union army unit under Brigadier General Robert C. Schenck approached Vienna from the east by train but was ambushed and forced to retreat by a Confederate force led by Colonel Maxcy Gregg. Several historical markers in Vienna detail its Civil War history. In addition, in the town center lies the well preserved Freeman House; which, in 1861, was the polling place for the secession vote and was used during the war by both sides as a hospital. The house has been turned into a museum and gift shop.

The First Baptist Church of Vienna was founded in 1867, and the original church structure was built using Union Army barracks lumber obtained through the Freedmen's Bureau. This church building was also the town's first black public school. The first white public school was built in 1872.

A permanent black elementary school was built, and was later named for its long-time principal, Louise Archer. In fall 1965, Fairfax County Public Schools were completely desegregated.

Geography

Vienna lies in the Piedmont approximately southwest of the Potomac River. Wolftrap Creek, a tributary of nearby Difficult Run, flows north from its source in the eastern part of town. The Bear Branch of Accotink Creek, a Potomac tributary, flows south from its source in the southern part of town.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land. As a suburb of Washington, D.C., Vienna is a part of both the Washington metropolitan area and the larger Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. It is bordered on all sides by other Washington suburbs, including Wolf Trap to the north, Tysons Corner to the northeast, Dunn Loring to the east, Merrifield to the south, and Oakton to the west. These communities are unincorporated, and portions of them lie in ZIP codes with Vienna postal addresses despite lying outside the town's borders.

Climate

Vienna has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), where the winters are cool, and summers are hot. The town is situated in USDA Hardiness Zone 7, where the annual average minimum is 0-9 °F.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Vienna town, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|11,124

|10,942

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,451

|76.97%

|69.75%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |63.44%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|486

|464

|style='background: #ffffe6; |401

|3.36%

|2.96%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.43%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|13

|18

|style='background: #ffffe6; |18

|0.09%

|0.11%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.11%

|Asian alone (NH)

|1,365

|1,886

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,672

|9.44%

|12.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |16.22%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13

|0.00%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|Other race alone (NH)

|34

|48

|style='background: #ffffe6; |108

|0.24%

|0.31%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.66%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|363

|435

|style='background: #ffffe6; |914

|2.51%

|2.77%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.55%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,068

|1,887

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,896

|7.39%

|12.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11.51%

|Total

|14,453

|15,687

|style='background: #ffffe6; |16,473

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Vienna had a population of 16,473 and a population density of . The median age was 41.4 years. 26.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.0 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 5,491 households and 4,215 families in Vienna. Of all households, 44.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 67.3% were married-couple households, 11.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 18.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84, and the average family size was 3.19.

Housing

Vienna's median home price was $820,000 in 2017, one of the highest in the nation.

Government

The Vienna Town Council is composed of a mayor and six councilmembers. The Council establishes policies, passes ordinances and resolutions, approves the Town budget, sets tax rates, approves land-use plans, and makes appointments to Town boards and commissions. Elections of the Council members and mayor is over seen and run by the Fairfax County Office of Elections The mayor is Linda Jane Colbert.

Education

The town is served by Fairfax County Public Schools. Vienna is served by three high schools (Oakton, Madison, and Marshall); two middle schools (Kilmer and Thoreau), and seven elementary schools. However, of all the schools Vienna students attend, only four public and one private are actually within the town limits: Cunningham Park Elementary School, Marshall Road Elementary School, Louise Archer Elementary School, Vienna Elementary School and Green Hedges School.

Vienna has one independent school, Green Hedges, accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. Green Hedges has students from ages 3– 5 (Montessori preschool and kindergarten program) through preparatory grades 1–8. Founded in 1942 by Frances and Kenton Kilmer, the School was relocated to the Windsor Heights area of Vienna in 1955.

Vienna also has one independent Catholic school, Oakcrest School, which was founded in 1976 and moved to its permanent campus in Vienna in 2017, and two Catholic elementary schools: St. Mark Catholic School and Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic School.

Fairfax County Public Library operates the Patrick Henry Library in Vienna.

Transportation

thumb|[[Interstate 66 in Virginia|I-66 westbound in Vienna]]

Interstate 66 is the main highway serving Vienna. Access is provided via Exit 62 and Virginia State Route 243. In addition, Virginia State Route 123 runs through downtown Vienna. The town is served on the Washington Metro network by Vienna station on the Orange Line.

Economy

MAE-East is located in Vienna. Along with MAE-West, it served as one of two locations, where all Internet traffic was exchanged between one ISP and other private, government, and academic Internet networks and served as a magnet for telecom and other high-tech companies focused on the Internet. In 1995 America Online (AOL) was headquartered at 8619 Westwood Center Drive in Tysons Corner CDP in unincorporated Fairfax County, near Vienna.

The corporate headquarters of Navy Federal Credit Union is located in Vienna.

Top employers

According to Vienna's 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the town are:

:{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Employer

! # of Employees

| 1

|Navy Federal Credit Union

|1,000+

| 2

|Fairfax County Public Schools

|500–999

| 3

|Giant Food

|100–249

| 4

|Town of Vienna

|100–249

| 5

|Whole Foods Market Group

|100–249

| 6

|Westwood Country Club

|100–249

| 7

|Wheat's Lawn and Custom Land, Inc

|100–249

| 8

|Hope Advanced Veterinary Clinic

|100–249

| 9

|Chick-Fil-A Vienna on Maple

|50–99

| 10

|U.S. Postal Service

|50–99

Recreation

The W&OD Trail crosses through downtown Vienna. Several parks are located near the town, including Meadowlark Botanical Gardens and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. The town green and Jammin' Java coffeehouse and music club serve as areas for theatre and musical performances. The Vienna Inn is one of the oldest restaurants in the area, serving residents with hot dogs and beer since 1960.

Notable people

Many of these residents live outside the town but in the Vienna postal delivery area.

Lillian Elvira Moore Abbot, painter
Yussur A. F. Abrar, former governor, Central Bank of Somalia
Angela Aki, singer
Alex Albrecht, host of Digg podcast Diggnation
Louise Archer, notable Black Educator
Mike Baker, former CIA operations officer and Fox News contributor
David Baldacci, author
Sandra Beasley, poet
Velta Benn, pilot
Reva Beck Bosone, former U.S. Representative
Gordon L. Brady, economist and writer
Steve Buckhantz, Washington Wizards play-by-play announcer
Ian Caldwell, author
David Chang, chef and restaurateur
Tom Davis, former U.S. Representative
John M. Dowd, lawyer
Trevor N. Dupuy, historian and former U.S. Army colonel
Bryce Eldridge, First baseman for the San Francisco Giants.
Bill Emerson (musician), bluegrass banjoist and founder of The Country Gentlemen
Billy Lee Evans, former U.S. Representative
Kyle Foggo, former U.S. federal government intelligence officer convicted of bribery
Katherine Hadford, figure skater
Jim Hill, former distance runner who competed in the World Athletics Championships
Robert Hanssen, former FBI counterespionage agent convicting of conducting espionage for the Soviet Union
Charles DeLano Hine, former civil engineer, lawyer, railway official, and U.S. Army colonel during Spanish–American War
Orrin E. Hine, Union Army major in 50th New York Engineer Regiment during American Civil War
Spencer Heath, inventor of the reversible pitch airplane propeller
William G. Hundley, former criminal defense attorney
Mark Keam, former Virginia House of Delegates member
David Kellermann, former chief financial officer, Freddie Mac
Lester Kinsolving, reporter, columnist, and talk show host
Ilia Malinin, U.S. Olympic figure skater
Michael McCrary, former professional football player, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks
Robert M. McDowell, former Federal Communications Commission commissioner
Heather Mercer, Christian missionary held captive in Afghanistan in 2001
John Myung, professional poker player
Héctor Andrés Negroni, first Puerto Rican graduate of U.S. Air Force Academy
Alketas Panagoulias, former Greece and the United States soccer team manager
Howard Phillips, former conservative political activist
Tony Rodham, American consultant and businessman and youngest brother of Hillary Clinton
Garrett Roe, former U.S. hockey Olympian
Chris Samuels, former professional football player, Washington Redskins
Randy Scott, ESPN sportscater and former stand-up comedian
Holly Seibold, non-profit leader and Virginia House of Delegates nominee
Kaleem Shah, entrepreneur and owner of thoroughbred race horses
Alfred Dennis Sieminski, former U.S. Representative
Nick Sorensen, former professional football player, Cleveland Browns
Michael J. Sullivan, fantasy novelist
Edwin Winans, U.S. Army general
Frank Wolf, former U.S. Representative

Points of interest

Freeman Store and Museum (Vienna, Virginia)
Jammin' Java coffeehouse and music club
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Terrorist Screening Center
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (located in the CDP of Wolf Trap, Virginia)

References

External links

Town of Vienna website