Alexandria, Virginia

Area Profile

156,976 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Alexandria, in Alexandria city.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 49% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 35% of 3,904 cities measured63
Schools2118th of 2,668 cities measured28
GrowthTop 34% of 2,973 cities measured59
Housing affordability3120th of 4,223 cities measured64
ClimateTop 42% of 4,223 cities measured72
Physical resilienceTop 48% of 4,182 cities measured60
Access2364th of 4,226 cities measured90
Economic stabilityTop 17% of 4,226 cities measured75
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.1% and median household income $119,681, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 21% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 6.1 times that income.

At a glance

Population
156,976
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$119,681
Top 11% nationally
Density
10,511/sq mi
14.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Alexandria city
Virginia
Metro area
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Nearest major airport
IAD
22 mi · Washington Dulles Intl
Median home value
$735,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1% is lower than 94% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 3.0% over the past year, to 95,952 employed residents.

66% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 95% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 89% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$2,819$119,681Top 11%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,426$79,474Top 4%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.9%Bottom 37%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.8 minTop 31%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher66.2%Top 5%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment95,952Top 39%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.5%Bottom 9%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-3.0%Bottom 8%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force99,072Top 39%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation78.3%Top 5%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$91,930Top 6%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$71,060Top 8%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 47%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.1%Bottom 6%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.61.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024120k105k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $119,681 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers112,530$156,460
Business Operations Specialists, All Other76,600$104,770
Software Developers69,060$154,930
Retail Salespersons66,920$36,610
Management Analysts62,360$126,830
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,560$34,600

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
20
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
39.0%
Bottom 22% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
52.6%
Bottom 20% in Virginia
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Alexandria City HighAlexandria City Public Schools4,65515.3
Francis C. Hammond MiddleAlexandria City Public Schools1,59713.437%47%
George Washington MiddleAlexandria City Public Schools1,45814.262%72%
Patrick Henry K-8 SchoolAlexandria City Public Schools1,07517.939%56%
Mount Vernon ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools93318.334%47%
James K. Polk ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools80417.131%39%
John Adams ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools74315.232%52%
Samuel W. Tucker ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools73517.133%62%
William Ramsay ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools68915.317%25%
Douglas MacArthur ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools68016.251%62%
Ferdinand T. Day ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools58916.419%31%
Charles Barrett ElementaryAlexandria City Public Schools54714.448%61%

69.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $2,089 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
109.5

Prices here run about 10% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
20.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,089
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$735,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index109.5Top 27%of 3,6582023
Home price to income6.14Top 8%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate42.1%Bottom 5%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±10080,844Top 1%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$32$2,089Top 7%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,247$735,100Top 5%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.9%Top 35%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.9%Bottom 33%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
59/ 100
Top 34% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 3 consecutive years, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 159,102 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.

95% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
609
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.9
Top 36% nationally
Year over year
+2668%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
95.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024159k155k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020222023202420251k17
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−84%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.8 inches, including 13.7 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WASHINGTON REAGAN AP, 3.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation41.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall13.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

60 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, strong wind and hurricane.

Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
TornadoModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, winter weather, hail, coastal flooding, ice storm, landslide, wildfire, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
142
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,650
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Alexandria's police department reported 142 violent offences per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,650.

Alexandria city records 3.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 7.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 6.4 per 100,000 residents in Alexandria city.

Homicide
3.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
6.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
11.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Alexandria’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Alexandria city as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Alexandria rather than Alexandria itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Washington Dulles IntlIAD22 mi11,500 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI33 mi10,503 ft
Richmond IntlRIC92 mi9,003 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
61
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Other cities in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia681,29465vs Alexandria
ArlingtonArlington County236,254vs Alexandria
GermantownMontgomery County90,719vs Alexandria
FrederickFrederick County83,39570vs Alexandria
WaldorfCharles County82,943vs Alexandria
Silver SpringMontgomery County81,462vs Alexandria
CentrevilleFairfax County71,706vs Alexandria
Dale CityPrince William County71,016vs Alexandria
GaithersburgMontgomery County69,82568vs Alexandria
BethesdaMontgomery County69,397vs Alexandria
RockvilleMontgomery County67,67171vs Alexandria
RestonFairfax County64,414vs Alexandria

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Alexandria

6 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2230448,613$101,60060
2231436,612$148,45164
2231119,337$87,62655
2230218,026$123,53965
2230517,214$113,53758
2230113,665$194,81968