Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culpeper.

Culpeper County is included in the Washington–Baltimore–Arlington, DC–MD–VA–WV–PA Combined Statistical Area.

At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of future Culpeper County were a Siouan-speaking sub-group of the Manahoac tribe called the Tegninateo. Culpeper County was established in 1749, with territory partitioned from Orange County. The county is named for Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, colonial governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683.

In May 1749, the first Culpeper Court convened in the home of Robert Tureman, near the present location of the Town of Culpeper. In July 1749, Tureman commissioned 17-year-old George Washington as the first County surveyor. One of his first duties was to lay out the county's courthouse complex, which included the courthouse, jail, stocks, gallows and accessory buildings. By 1752 the complex stood at the present northeast corner of Davis and Main Streets. The courthouse village was named Town of Fairfax for Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781).

During the Virginia convention held in May 1775, the colony was divided into sixteen districts. Each district had instructions to raise a battalion of men "to march at a minute's notice." Culpeper, Orange and Fauquier, forming one district, raised 350 men in "Clayton's old field" on the Catalpa estate; they were called the Culpeper Minute Men. In December, the Minute Men, marching under their flag depicting a rattlesnake and inscribed with the words "Liberty or Death" and "Don't Tread on Me", took part in the Battle of Great Bridge, the first Revolutionary battle on Virginia soil. The Culpeper Minute Men reorganized in 1860 in response to the impending Civil War and became part of 13th Infantry's Company B, fighting against the US Government forces. The Culpeper Minutemen were again organized for World War I, and joined the 116th Infantry.

In 1833, based on the county's growing population and the need of those in the northwestern area for easier access to a county seat, the upper 267 square miles (690 km) of Culpeper County was partitioned off to create Rappahannock County, Virginia, which was founded by an act of the Virginia General Assembly.

During the Civil War the Battle of Cedar Mountain took place on August 9, 1862, and the Battle of Brandy Station occurred on June 9, 1863, in Culpeper County.

Culpeper was the boyhood home of Civil War General A. P. Hill, who fought against Union forces.

The negative impact of the Massive Resistance campaign against school integration led to the statewide election of a pro-desegregation governor. By the middle of the 1970s, Culpeper was the last county in Virginia to desegregate its public schools. In 2018 Culpeper County Public Schools has six elementary, two middle schools and two high schools. In 1935 the Rotary Club of Culpeper began a college loan fund, which in 1966 became a four-year scholarship based on academic achievement. The group also provides a Technical School scholarship based on academic achievement.

Culpeper County is home to Commonwealth Park, site for many world-class equestrian events. It was here that actor Christopher Reeve suffered his 1995 accident during a competition.

The town of Culpeper was rated #10 by Norman Crampton, author of "The 100 Best Small Towns in America," in February 1993.

In April 2016, the county Board of Supervisors denied a routine request from the Islamic Center of Culpeper for a pump and haul permit to serve their envisioned mosque. This resulted in a lawsuit by the US Department of Justice in December.

Culpeper County has a civilian workforce of 24,313. 30% of residents live and work within the county while 70% of workers commute out of the locality. The most residents are commuting to Fairfax or Fauquier counties. In comparison, the equivalent of 45% are in-commuters. The most in-commuters are coming from Orange County.

The Top 10 non-governmental Culpeper employers as of March 2023:

1. Culpeper Memorial Hospital
2. Walmart
3. Masco (Cabinetworks)
4. S.W.I.F.T.
5. Bingham and Taylor Corporation
6. Continental Automotive
7. Cintas Corporation
8. Virginia Baptist Homes (The Culpeper Senior Living)
9. Communications Corporation of America
10. LaborReady Mid-Atlantic

The northeast border of Culpeper County is defined by the Rappahannock River which flows east-southeastward along its border, while the south border of the county is similarly defined by the meanders of the Rapidan River. The Hazel River flows eastward through the county, discharging into the Rappahannock on the county's east border, while the Thornton River also flows eastward through the county, discharging into the Hazel in the north part of the county. The county is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are quickly accessed beginning with Old Rag Mountain and the Skyline Drive just up Route 522. The rolling hills generally slope to the south and east, with its highest point near its west corner at 705 ft (215 m) ASL. The county has a total area of 383 square miles (990 km), of which 379 square miles (980 km) is land and 3.3 square miles (8.5 km) (0.9%) is water.

• Brandy Station Battlefield Park
• Mountain Run Lake Park

• Catalpa District: Paul W. Bates, Vice Chairman (I)
• Cedar Mountain District: David E. Durr (I)
• East Fairfax District: Kathy Campbell (I)
• Jefferson District: Brad C. Rosenberger (R)
• Salem District: Tom Underwood (R)
• Stevensburg District: Susan L. Gugino (R)
• West Fairfax District: Gary M. Deal, Chairman (I)

• Clerk of the Circuit Court: Carson Beard (I)
• Commissioner of the Revenue: Terry L. Yowell (I)
• Commonwealth's Attorney: Paul R. Walther (R)
• Sheriff: Scott H. Jenkins (I)
• Treasurer: Missy N. White (R)

Culpeper County is represented by Republicans Bryce E. Reeves, Emmett W. Hanger Jr., and Jill Holtzman Vogel in the Virginia Senate, Republicans Michael J. Webert and Nicholas J. (Nick) Freitas in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Culpeper County has been a Republican stronghold for several decades. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate carried the county was 1964.

United States presidential election results for Culpeper County, Virginia

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	17,685	61.67%	10,557	36.81%	437	1.52%
2020	16,012	59.05%	10,617	39.15%	487	1.80%
2016	13,349	60.08%	7,759	34.92%	1,110	5.00%
2012	11,580	57.30%	8,285	40.99%	346	1.71%
2008	10,711	54.26%	8,802	44.59%	228	1.15%
2004	10,026	64.25%	5,476	35.09%	103	0.66%
2000	7,440	60.76%	4,364	35.64%	440	3.59%
1996	5,688	53.90%	3,907	37.02%	958	9.08%
1992	5,226	49.93%	3,444	32.91%	1,796	17.16%
1988	5,896	68.57%	2,555	29.71%	148	1.72%
1984	5,596	70.60%	2,255	28.45%	75	0.95%
1980	4,312	59.43%	2,519	34.72%	424	5.84%
1976	3,659	54.64%	2,892	43.19%	145	2.17%
1972	3,707	72.80%	1,316	25.84%	69	1.36%
1968	2,229	47.49%	1,239	26.40%	1,226	26.12%
1964	1,775	48.43%	1,886	51.46%	4	0.11%
1960	1,630	54.86%	1,332	44.83%	9	0.30%
1956	1,502	56.44%	966	36.30%	193	7.25%
1952	1,507	60.33%	987	39.51%	4	0.16%
1948	682	40.14%	804	47.32%	213	12.54%
1944	750	42.30%	1,022	57.64%	1	0.06%
1940	579	32.27%	1,208	67.34%	7	0.39%
1936	551	30.21%	1,266	69.41%	7	0.38%
1932	417	23.40%	1,349	75.70%	16	0.90%
1928	753	47.39%	836	52.61%	0	0.00%
1924	190	17.15%	876	79.06%	42	3.79%
1920	330	25.27%	973	74.50%	3	0.23%
1916	184	17.73%	849	81.79%	5	0.48%
1912	108	11.80%	752	82.19%	55	6.01%

Recent media investigations regarding law enforcement procurement of military equipment through the "1033" program offered by the Defense Logistics Agency identified Culpeper County as having received, as donations, a "Mine Resistant Vehicle" in 2013 worth $412,000 and 20 night-vision optics worth an additional $136,000.00.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	22,105		—
1800	18,100		−18.1%
1810	18,967		4.8%
1820	20,944		10.4%
1830	24,027		14.7%
1840	11,393		−52.6%
1850	12,282		7.8%
1860	12,063		−1.8%
1870	12,227		1.4%
1880	13,408		9.7%
1890	13,233		−1.3%
1900	14,123		6.7%
1910	13,472		−4.6%
1920	13,292		−1.3%
1930	13,306		0.1%
1940	13,365		0.4%
1950	13,242		−0.9%
1960	15,088		13.9%
1970	18,218		20.7%
1980	22,620		24.2%
1990	27,791		22.9%
2000	34,262		23.3%
2010	46,689		36.3%
2020	52,552		12.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010 2020

Culpeper County, Virginia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	33,482	34,840	71.71%	66.30%
Black or African American alone (NH)	7,212	6,453	15.45%	12.28%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	129	110	0.28%	0.21%
Asian alone (NH)	593	767	1.27%	1.46%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	12	20	0.03%	0.04%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	100	233	0.21%	0.44%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH)	1,004	2,620	2.15%	4.99%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	4,157	7,509	8.90%	14.29%
Total	46,689	52,552	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 34,262 people, 12,141 households, and 9,045 families in the county. The population density was 90.4 people per square mile (34.9 people/km). There were 12,871 housing units at an average density of 34.0 units per square mile (13.1 units/km). The racial makeup of the county was 68.27% White, 28.15% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.15% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 2.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 12,141 households, out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.50% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.08.

The county population contained 25.70% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 31.10% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,290, and the median income for a family was $51,475. Males had a median income of $36,621 versus $25,985 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,162. About 27.00% of families and 29.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.30% of those under age 18 and 28.60% of those age 65 or over.

Culpeper County Public Schools

• Culpeper Christian
• Culpeper Middle
• Floyd T. Binns Middle

• Culpeper County High School
• Eastern View High School
• Culpeper Technical Education Center

• Culpeper

• Elkwood
• Reva
• Boston

• Big Kenny - (b. 1963) country music singer
• Thomas Colepeper - Governor of Virginia Colony (1677-1683)
• Pete Hill - (1882-1951) professional baseball player, in Hall of Fame
• Dangerfield Newby - (c.1820-October 17, 1859), one of John Brown's men killed in the raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, VA
• Eppa Rixey - (1891-1963) professional baseball player, in Hall of Fame
• D. French Slaughter Jr. - US Congressman (1985-1991)
• Andrew Stevenson – Speaker of the House of Representatives
• French Strother - (1730-1800) significant political figure in early national history

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Culpeper County, Virginia

• Culpeper County Government
• Culpeper County Public Schools
• Culpeper Regional Hospital Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
• Culpeper Chamber of Commerce
• Culpeper County During the Civil War in Encyclopedia Virginia

38°29′N 77°58′W / 38.49°N 77.96°W / 38.49; -77.96