23803 — Petersburg, Virginia

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 23803. Its median home value runs 22% above Petersburg as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,942nd of 3,116 ZIP areas measured26
Schools2,595th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured22
Growth1,972nd of 3,124 ZIP areas measured44
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured73
ClimateTop 30% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured75
Physical resilienceTop 45% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured62
Access2,050th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured87
Economic stability2,793rd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured26
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 6.0% and the Opportunity signal places 23803 in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Petersburg, VA, which contains 23803, rather than for 23803 alone.

In the public schools here, 67% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 94 units authorized over the past twelve months, 44% below the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Petersburg, VA, which contains 23803, rather than for 23803 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
42,012
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,813
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
582/sq mi
72.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Petersburg
Virginia
Metro area
Nearest major airport
RIC
22 mi · Richmond Intl
Median home value
$230,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Petersburg, VA, which contains 23803, is 6.0% — higher than in all but 8% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Petersburg, VA, which contains 23803, fell 1.8% over the past year, to 14,368 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,5102024 ACS 5-Year$57,813Bottom 26%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3302024 ACS 5-Year$30,256Bottom 28%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year21.0%Bottom 15%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.7 minTop 50%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.4%Top 47%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.7%32nd percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentPetersburg, VA’s figureJuly 202614,368Bottom 9%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Petersburg, VA’s figureJuly 2026−1.1%Bottom 38%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Petersburg, VA’s figureJuly 2026−1.8%Bottom 25%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forcePetersburg, VA’s figureJuly 202615,2939th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.3%Bottom 46%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageRichmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$68,400Top 40%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageRichmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,460Top 34%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%90th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Petersburg, VA’s figureJuly 2026+0.9%Bottom 4%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment ratePetersburg, VA’s figureJuly 20266.0%Bottom 8%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%60th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202458k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,813 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.

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

67% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 7 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across 7 of them
Math proficiency
66.8%
Bottom 9% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
61.9%
Bottom 8% in Virginia
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Matoaca MiddleChesterfield County Public Schools77514.974%73%
Matoaca ElementaryChesterfield County Public Schools67613.877%77%
Ettrick ElementaryChesterfield County Public Schools56013.080%69%
Cool Spring ElementaryPetersburg City Public Schools54014.650%47%
Pleasants Lane ElementaryPetersburg City Public Schools49312.667%52%
Westview Early Childhood Education CenterPetersburg City Public Schools41814.9——
Lakemont ElementaryPetersburg City Public Schools39311.939%37%
Southside Va Training CtrSouthside Virginia Training Center0———
Central St. Hosp. Ed. Pr.Central State Hospital0———
Appomattox Regional Governor's SchoolAppomattox Regional Governor's School0———

84.5% 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 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 $1,450 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.63% 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 40% above the $1,178 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 115% of the median household income here of $57,813.

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 $1,178 a month.

A median home at $230,400 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,618, 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
29.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,655
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,178
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$230,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 23803’s median household income of $57,813, 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 50%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.4%54th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+47.7%67th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Richmond, VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+100.7%58th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 43%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year51.1%10th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5962024 ACS 5-Year19,92597th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,507Bottom 36%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,072Bottom 46%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,655Bottom 44%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$1,178Bottom 36%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,0092024 ACS 5-Year$230,40053rd percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$822024 ACS 5-Year$1,45035th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$8,7772024 ACS 5-Year$79,618Bottom 45%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.63%25th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year29.9%Bottom 40%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±642024 ACS 5-Year6868th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%37th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%84th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4372024 ACS 5-Year3,15899th 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

44/ 100
Ranks 1,972 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 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Petersburg, VA, which contains 23803, rather than for 23803 alone.

Units permitted
94
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Bottom 47% nationally
Year over year
−44%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
26.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Petersburg, 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 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, 21.7 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

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, drought and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 37% 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.

HurricaneModerate
EarthquakeElevated
DroughtElevated
Cold waveModerate

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

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
36.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
51.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
51.0
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 23803 (Petersburg city) rather than 23803 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. Petersburg 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 Richmond Intl at 22 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year87.3%Bottom 40%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle22 miBottom 42%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 9%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.5%Top 48%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Richmond IntlRIC22 mi9,003 ft
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF54 mi8,003 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU118 mi10,000 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
49
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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)
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
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
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.

23803 vs Petersburg

How this ZIP area compares with Petersburg 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.

23803
Petersburg
Median household income: 23803 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$57,813
vs
$50,698
Per capita income: 23803 is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$30,256
vs
$29,418
Population density
582/sq mi
vs
1,476/sq mi
Median home value
$230,400
vs
$189,000
Median gross rent: Petersburg is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,178
vs
$1,174
Homeownership rate
51.1%
vs
38.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Petersburg is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
24.4%
vs
25.4%
Poverty rate: 23803 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
21.0%
vs
21.8%
Median age
36.4
vs
35.8

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.