Hopewell, Virginia

Area Profile

22,959 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Hopewell, in Hopewell city.

50out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 20% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity4,087th of 4,199 cities measured24
Schools3,377th of 4,162 cities measured25
Growth2,605th of 4,224 cities measured45
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 4,218 cities measured69
ClimateTop 28% of 4,225 cities measured75
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 4,226 cities measured65
Access2,258th of 4,226 cities measured91
Economic stability3,834th of 4,226 cities measured30
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.4% and the Opportunity signal places Hopewell in the bottom 3%.

In the public schools here, 77% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

45 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% 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
22,959
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$54,729
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
2,217/sq mi
10.4 sq mi of land
Median age
37.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Virginia
Metro area
Nearest major airport
RIC
15 mi · Richmond Intl
Median home value
$181,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.4% — higher than in all but 15% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 9,580 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,6452024 ACS 5-Year$54,729Bottom 31%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,3542024 ACS 5-Year$28,711Bottom 32%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year21.7%Bottom 20%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.4 minBottom 46%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year13.7%Bottom 31%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.3%57th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20269,580Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.7%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.8%Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202610,1252nd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.9%Bottom 36%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageRichmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$68,400Top 50%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageRichmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,460Top 46%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%73rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.7%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.4%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%66th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.03.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.4% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, 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

202120222023202455k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $54,729 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 — Richmond, VA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers17,100$29,500
Retail Salespersons16,210$33,580
General and Operations Managers15,770$108,670
Registered Nurses15,700$93,580
Cashiers14,460$30,350
Stockers and Order Fillers12,300$37,180

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.

77% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
76.5%
Bottom 17% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
67.4%
Bottom 10% in Virginia
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Hopewell HighHopewell City Public Schools1,13616.573%68%
Carter G. Woodson MiddleHopewell City Public Schools80312.479%65%
Dupont ElementaryHopewell City Public Schools58914.779%68%
Patrick Copeland ElementaryHopewell City Public Schools57913.879%69%
Harry E. James ElementaryHopewell City Public Schools53511.475%67%
Woodlawn Pre-School Learning CenterHopewell City Public Schools30714.6——
New HOPE AcademyHopewell City Public Schools0———

100.0% 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 98.3, 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 Richmond, VA Metro Area is up 48% over five years, and up 3.4% 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 $1,564 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.86% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,655, some 50% above the $1,106 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,655 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $66,200 a year, about 121% of the median household income here of $54,729.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,106 a month.

A median home at $181,600 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $68,886, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
98.3

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 Richmond, VA 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
31.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,655
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,106
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$181,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Hopewell’s median household income of $54,729, 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 Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure202398.3Top 39%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+47.7%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+100.7%63rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year57.9%17th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±262024 ACS 5-Year10,44894th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,507Bottom 44%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,072Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,655Top 48%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$1,106Bottom 38%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,2502024 ACS 5-Year$181,60049th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1352024 ACS 5-Year$1,56444th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$11,5492024 ACS 5-Year$68,886Bottom 36%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year0.86%43rd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.7%Bottom 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1252024 ACS 5-Year16293rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%66th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%63rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3252024 ACS 5-Year1,19396th percentileof 32,3302024 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

45/ 100
Ranks 2,605 of 4,224 published city 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 22,970 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 31 units authorized in 2025, 26% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 45 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
45
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202423k23k
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 for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420258118
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−60%).

Weather & climate

7 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 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.5 inches, including 8.8 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 RICHMOND INTL AP, 14.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals8.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% 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.

HurricaneElevated
DroughtElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Ice stormModerate

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

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
395
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,412
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

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

Hopewell's police department reported 395 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,412.

Hopewell city has a modeled homicide rate of about 19.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 21.1 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 20.3 per 100,000 residents in Hopewell city.

Homicide
19.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
20.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
13.4
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Hopewell’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Hopewell (Hopewell city) rather than Hopewell itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 Richmond Intl at 15 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year86.1%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle15 miTop 42%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.8%Bottom 31%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Richmond IntlRIC15 mi9,003 ft
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF46 mi8,003 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD115 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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Area Score
50
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Other cities in Richmond, VA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
RichmondRichmond city229,35959Richmond vs Hopewell
TuckahoeHenrico County49,18370Tuckahoe vs Hopewell
MechanicsvilleHanover County38,68370Mechanicsville vs Hopewell
PetersburgPetersburg city33,53748
Short PumpHenrico County29,02672
ChesterChesterfield County24,47465
MeadowbrookChesterfield County20,74963
MidlothianChesterfield County19,12071
LaurelHenrico County18,72162
Colonial HeightsColonial Heights city18,35259
Glen AllenHenrico County17,55172
Bon AirChesterfield County16,90466

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.

Compare

Put Hopewell side by side with a similar place.

Hopewell vs WilmingtonHopewell vs Petersburg

Moving to Hopewell from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in Hopewell

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Hopewell with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
2386031,404$62,141$206,50050