Report: Fiber Fuels 35% Job Growth in Charlottesville, Va.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2025 – A new study uncovers how fiber is transforming business and industries in a central Virginia community.

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) released a study Monday detailing how the availability of high-speed, low-latency fiber created approximately 35% job growth in Charlottesville between 2015 and 2019, the time period when fiber was actively expanding in the town.

The study found that fiber resulted in the addition of 735 new jobs, mostly in professional, scientific, and technical industries

The expansion of fiber broadband was extremely beneficial for homeowners as well. The study estimates that increases in fiber availability have boosted housing values in the Charlottesville area by $4 million annually.

Charlottesville Mayor Juandiego Wade touched on the impact fiber has had on small businesses in the city too.

 “Fiber is good for businesses in general, but we have a very vibrant small startup business environment here. Fiber helps them reach outside the boundaries of Charlottesville in a much more robust way,” Wade said.

Charlottesville has been able to outperform other Virginia cities of similar size in key small business health metrics, which the FBA believes is “thanks to reliable, high speed broadband enabling access to global markets.”