AreaProfile

23234Richmond, Virginia

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 23234.

66
Area Score
Top 28% of 695 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity537th of 727 published ZIP areas43
GrowthTop 34% of 701 published ZIP areas60
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 800 published ZIP areas72
ClimateTop 30% of 779 published ZIP areas75
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 800 published ZIP areas78
Access445th of 779 published ZIP areas95
Economic stability404th of 800 published ZIP areas59
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 4.2% and the Opportunity signal places 23234 in the bottom 26%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 2,714 units authorized over the past twelve months, 20% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 23234 in the top 20% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
47,465
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,619
Bottom 42% nationally
Density
2,484/sq mi
19.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Richmond
Virginia
Metro area
Richmond, VA
Nearest major airport
RIC
9 mi · Richmond Intl
Median home value
$266,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 76% of the 1,061 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.1% over the past year, to 124,246 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,597$66,619Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,796$31,511Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.3%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.0 minBottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.2%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment124,246Bottom 24%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-2.0%Bottom 16%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.1%Bottom 15%June 2026
Labor force129,658Bottom 24%June 2026
Labor force participation68.9%Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$68,400Top 46%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,460Top 34%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.5%Top 36%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 24%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202467k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,619 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

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 Richmond, VA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,401 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,401
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$266,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.00Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate59.2%Bottom 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±76818,300Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$59$1,401Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,738$266,200Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.2%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.3%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
60/ 100
Top 34% of 701 published city 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.

81% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 11.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
2,714
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.9
Top 3% nationally
Year over year
−20%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
81.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Richmond, 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, 8.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall8.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

78 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake and hurricane.

EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, inland flooding, ice storm, winter weather, lightning, tornado, strong wind, hail, coastal flooding, drought, landslide, wildfire, cold wave.

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Richmond IntlRIC9 mi9,003 ft
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF58 mi8,003 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD103 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
66
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 browse every source.

23234 vs Richmond

How this ZIP area compares with Richmond as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

23234
Richmond
Median household income
$66,619
vs
$64,587
Per capita income
$31,511
vs
$45,790
Population density
2,484/sq mi
vs
3,827/sq mi
Median home value
$266,200
vs
$353,000
Median gross rent
$1,401
vs
$1,372
Homeownership rate
59.2%
vs
43.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.2%
vs
45.6%
Poverty rate
15.3%
vs
18.2%
Median age
35.0
vs
34.7

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.