Forest is a medium-sized town located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 11,709 people and three associated neighborhoods, Forest is the 69th largest community in Virginia.Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Forest is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Forest is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Forest who work in sales jobs (12.78%), teaching (12.51%), and management occupations (11.62%). Also of interest is that Forest has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. A relatively large number of people in Forest telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 12.95% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. As is often the case in a small town, Forest doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.The citizens of Forest are among the most well-educated in the nation: 47.15% of adults in Forest have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree, whereas the average US city has 21.84% holding at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Forest in 2022 was $45,115, which is upper middle income relative to Virginia, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $180,460 for a family of four. However, Forest contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Forest is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Forest home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Forest residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Forest include English, German, Irish, Polish, and Italian. The most common language spoken in Forest is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Langs. of India.
