Newport News city, VA

County Profile

184,216 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Newport News city, VA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 31% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,065th of 1,463 counties measured44
Schools1,261st of 1,377 counties measured15
Growth1,443rd of 1,453 counties measured7
Housing affordability875th of 1,462 counties measured71
ClimateTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured78
Physical resilienceTop 10% of 1,463 counties measured88
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured95
Economic stability754th of 1,463 counties measured59
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.3% and the Opportunity signal places Newport News city in the bottom 27%.

In the public schools here, 73% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 86 units authorized over the past twelve months, 84% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
184,216
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$69,634
Top 38% nationally
Density
2,670/sq mi
69 sq mi of land
Median age
34.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Newport News city
Virginia
Nearest major airport
PHF
4 mi · Newport News/Williamsburg Intl
Median home value
$260,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3% — higher than in all but 42% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 84,690 employed residents.

31% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$46,01611th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$48,74219th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,4262024 ACS 5-Year$69,634Top 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,8452024 ACS 5-Year$38,773Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$50,862Bottom 28%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.2%Bottom 41%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.1 minTop 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year30.6%Top 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.0%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202684,690Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.1%Bottom 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202688,49773rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year80.5%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%92nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.1%Bottom 36%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Bottom 42%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.2%65th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.72.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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

202120222023202470k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $69,634 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 — Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers22,520$28,780
Retail Salespersons20,890$30,820
General and Operations Managers17,400$100,340
Registered Nurses16,870$89,450
Cashiers16,840$29,320
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand13,920$39,160

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

73% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.0 students for every full-time teacher across 34 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
48
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.0
across 34 of them
Math proficiency
72.6%
Bottom 14% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
67.3%
Bottom 8% in Virginia
The 12 largest of 48 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Woodside HighNewport News City Public Schools1,72315.187%87%
Menchville HighNewport News City Public Schools1,70713.783%85%
Warwick HighNewport News City Public Schools1,62214.973%82%
Denbigh HighNewport News City Public Schools1,26914.476%68%
Heritage HighNewport News City Public Schools1,10614.280%78%
Ethel M. Gildersleeve MiddleNewport News City Public Schools1,087—74%67%
Ella J. Fitzgerald MiddleNewport News City Public Schools988—75%65%
Mary Passage MiddleNewport News City Public Schools931—67%59%
Homer L. Hines MiddleNewport News City Public Schools846—56%56%
Crittenden MiddleNewport News City Public Schools781—61%59%
Joseph H. Saunders ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools66018.957%48%
Achievable Dream AcademyNewport News City Public Schools64119.482%72%

97.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 97.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area is up 43% over five years, and up 3.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,634 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.01% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,713, some 28% above the $1,339 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,713 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $68,500 a year, about 98% of the median household income here of $69,634.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,339 a month.

A median home at $260,600 costs 2.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,111, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
97.7

Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.6%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,713
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,339
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$260,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Newport News city’s median household income of $69,634, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure202397.7Bottom 36%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.6%53rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+43.4%41st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+78.2%26th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.8Bottom 37%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year48.2%1st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2312024 ACS 5-Year82,05289th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,512Bottom 14%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,376Bottom 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,713Bottom 16%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$252024 ACS 5-Year$1,339Bottom 12%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,8442024 ACS 5-Year$260,60074th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$732024 ACS 5-Year$2,63479th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,4632024 ACS 5-Year$94,111Top 19%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.01%66th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year30.6%Bottom 23%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±382024 ACS 5-Year356th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.2%34th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5182024 ACS 5-Year5,94083rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

7/ 100
Ranks 1,443 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 fallen 2% since 2020, to 183,056 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Newport News city lost about 1.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $46,016, below the $48,742 of households that moved out.

At 0.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
86
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.5
Bottom 8% nationally
Year over year
−84%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
37.2%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024186k183k
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. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−1.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
41%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$46,016
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,742
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hampton city, VA 3,280 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. York County, VA 959 people · 6.9% of arrivals
  3. Norfolk city, VA 503 people · 3.6% of arrivals
  4. Virginia Beach city, VA 441 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. James City County, VA 408 people · 2.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Hampton city, VA 3,375 people · 22% of departures
  2. York County, VA 1,175 people · 7.6% of departures
  3. James City County, VA 522 people · 3.4% of departures
  4. Norfolk city, VA 472 people · 3.1% of departures
  5. Virginia Beach city, VA 464 people · 3.0% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025647106
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−22%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.1 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEWPORT NEWS INTL AP, 4.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

88 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 45% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 90% of measured US counties.

HurricaneElevated
Ice stormModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, strong wind, lightning, earthquake, tornado, inland flooding, cold wave, hail, wildfire, landslide, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Newport News city records 7.1 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.4 per 100,000 residents in Newport News city.

Homicide
7.1
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Newport News city as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Newport News/Williamsburg Intl at 4 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year91.6%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle4 miTop 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF4 mi8,003 ft
Richmond IntlRIC53 mi9,003 ft
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO135 mi11,498 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
54
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Newport News city, VA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.