23602 — Newport News, Virginia

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 23602. Its median household income runs 14% above Newport News as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 43% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity2,073rd of 3,116 ZIP areas measured46
Schools2,235th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured32
Growth3,104th of 3,124 ZIP areas measured10
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured72
ClimateTop 21% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured78
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured84
AccessTop 41% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured95
Economic stabilityTop 45% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured57
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.3% and median household income $79,475, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Newport News, VA, which contains 23602, rather than for 23602 alone.

In the public schools here, 77% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.5 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 86 units authorized over the past twelve months, 84% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Newport News, VA, which contains 23602, rather than for 23602 alone.

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
42,265
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,475
Top 38% nationally
Density
3,214/sq mi
13.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Newport News
Virginia
Nearest major airport
PHF
2 mi · Newport News/Williamsburg Intl
Median home value
$288,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Newport News, VA, which contains 23602, is 4.3%, lower than in 54% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Newport News, VA, which contains 23602, fell 1.8% over the past year, to 84,690 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsNewport News city, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$46,0164th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftNewport News city, VA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$48,7427th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,5442024 ACS 5-Year$79,475Top 38%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$11,7802024 ACS 5-Year$51,569Top 18%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%Bottom 40%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year26.6 minTop 44%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year37.1%Top 24%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.1%58th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentNewport News, VA’s figureJuly 202684,690Top 34%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Newport News, VA’s figureJuly 2026−4.1%Bottom 7%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Newport News, VA’s figureJuly 2026−1.8%Bottom 28%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceNewport News, VA’s figureJuly 202688,49766th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.4%Top 32%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageVirginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$64,130Bottom 37%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageVirginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,430Bottom 47%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%74th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Newport News, VA’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 40%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateNewport News, VA’s figureJuly 20264.3%Top 46%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%56th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202479k65k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,475 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Newport News, VA, the city containing this ZIP code.

77% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 73% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.5 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.5
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
77.4%
Bottom 29% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
73.2%
Bottom 31% in Virginia
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Menchville HighNewport News City Public Schools1,70713.783%85%
Kiln Creek ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools55321.378%69%
Willis A. Jenkins ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools50718.872%62%
T. Ryland Sanford ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools49818.471%62%
L.F. Palmer ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools46517.975%64%
B.C. Charles ElementaryNewport News City Public Schools38820.470%67%
Center for AutismNew Horizons Regional Education Center - Special Education0———

97.6% 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 $2,998 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.04% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,810, some 20% above the $1,511 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,810 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $72,400 a year, about 91% of the median household income here of $79,475.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,511 a month.

A median home at $288,200 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $105,216, 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
30.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,810
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,511
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$288,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 23602’s median household income of $79,475, 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 figure202397.7Top 45%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.6%61st percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+43.4%50th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+78.2%22nd percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 49%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year53.3%11th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6332024 ACS 5-Year18,48195th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,600Bottom 30%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,510Bottom 27%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,810Bottom 34%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$1,511Bottom 21%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,2462024 ACS 5-Year$288,20065th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1412024 ACS 5-Year$2,99870th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,7952024 ACS 5-Year$105,216Top 26%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year1.04%59th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year30.3%Bottom 38%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±382024 ACS 5-Year2953rd percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%33rd percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.2%31st percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2132024 ACS 5-Year81384th percentileof 33,7722024 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

10/ 100
Ranks 3,104 of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

At 0.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Newport News, VA, which contains 23602, rather than for 23602 alone.

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

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. This is the figure for Newport News city, VA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Newport News, VA, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 1.9 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

84 / 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 84% of measured US ZIP areas.

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). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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.

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 the county around 23602 (Newport News city) rather than 23602 itself. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Newport News carries the figure where its 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 2 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year94.1%Top 25%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle2 miTop 1%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 9%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year2.6%Top 17%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF2 mi8,003 ft
Richmond IntlRIC52 mi9,003 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD137 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
56
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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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

23602 vs Newport News

How this ZIP area compares with Newport News as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

23602
Newport News
Median household income: 23602 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$79,475
vs
$69,634
Per capita income: 23602 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$51,569
vs
$38,773
Population density
3,214/sq mi
vs
2,670/sq mi
Median home value
$288,200
vs
$260,600
Median gross rent: Newport News is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,511
vs
$1,339
Homeownership rate
53.3%
vs
48.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 23602 is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
37.1%
vs
30.6%
Poverty rate: 23602 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
12.3%
vs
14.2%
Median age
35.0
vs
34.4

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.