Poquoson city, VA

County Profile

12,639 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Poquoson 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.

68out of 100
Area Score
Top 18% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured67
SchoolsTop 3% of 1,377 counties measured90
GrowthTop 37% of 1,453 counties measured58
Housing affordability1,238th of 1,462 counties measured59
ClimateTop 7% of 1,463 counties measured79
Physical resilience976th of 1,463 counties measured47
AccessTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured94
Economic stabilityTop 4% of 1,463 counties measured94
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.1% and median household income $120,972, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

Public schools test above most of the state: 91% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 3% of published profiles for schools.

88 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 5% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
12,639
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$120,972
Top 2% nationally
Density
823/sq mi
15.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Poquoson city
Virginia
Nearest major airport
PHF
10 mi · Newport News/Williamsburg Intl
Median home value
$400,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.1%, lower than in 87% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 6,607 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $120,972 is higher than in 98% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$81,39384th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$80,08688th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$13,4122024 ACS 5-Year$120,972Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,8572024 ACS 5-Year$51,194Top 6%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year29.6 minBottom 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year36.3%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year79.6%65th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20266,607Bottom 5%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.3%Bottom 22%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.8%Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 20266,8165th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year82.9%Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.1%Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%74th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/073.31.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.1% in July 2026. It has been falling, 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

2021202220232024121k112k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $120,972 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.

91% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 91% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 4 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
90.7%
Top 2% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
91.1%
Top 2% in Virginia
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Poquoson HighPoquoson City Public Schools64712.485%92%
Poquoson MiddlePoquoson City Public Schools49113.694%91%
Poquoson ElementaryPoquoson City Public Schools47518.395%90%
Poquoson PrimaryPoquoson City Public Schools41714.9——

23.7% 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 $3,690 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.92% 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, close to the $1,707 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 57% of the median household income here of $120,972.

The typical renter household here spends 37% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,707 a month.

A median home at $400,300 costs 3.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $129,839, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

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
36.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,713
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,707
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$400,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Poquoson city’s median household income of $120,972, 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 ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.1Bottom 27%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year84.6%96th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±212024 ACS 5-Year4,97123rd 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 ±$1292024 ACS 5-Year$1,707Bottom 4%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$23,2472024 ACS 5-Year$400,30091st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3922024 ACS 5-Year$3,69091st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,2062024 ACS 5-Year$129,839Top 3%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year0.92%59th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year36.7%Bottom 2%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±612024 ACS 5-Year6312th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.3%31st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%5th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1082024 ACS 5-Year2434th 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

58/ 100
Top 37% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 grown 3% since 2020, reaching 12,854 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 98 units authorized in 2025, 26% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 88 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Poquoson city gained about 1.1% 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 $81,393, close to the $80,086 of households that moved out.

At 7.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
88
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.0
Top 16% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202413k12k
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 rising, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$81,393
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$80,086
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Newport News city, VA 150 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. York County, VA 149 people · 16% of arrivals
  3. Hampton city, VA 113 people · 12% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Newport News city, VA 130 people · 16% of departures
  2. York County, VA 106 people · 13% of departures
  3. Hampton city, VA 72 people · 8.6% of departures
  4. James City County, VA 45 people · 5.4% of departures
  5. Gloucester County, VA 31 people · 3.7% 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

20202021202220232024202513319
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+292%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.8 inches, including 2.7 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 LANGLEY AFB, 4.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals47.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals2.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°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

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, coastal flooding and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 44% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Coastal floodingHigh
HurricaneElevated
Ice stormModerate

Low or minimal exposure: earthquake, heat wave, wildfire, tornado, lightning, cold wave, inland flooding, strong wind, hail, winter weather, 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.

Poquoson city records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 15.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 12.7 per 100,000 residents in Poquoson city.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
13.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Poquoson 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 10 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year95.7%Top 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle10 miTop 10%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%Top 3%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF10 mi8,003 ft
Richmond IntlRIC62 mi9,003 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD141 mi11,500 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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68
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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
HousingU.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 Poquoson city, VA