Photo: US Army Corps of Engineers, photographer not specified · Public domainChesapeake’s household incomes are higher than in 73% of U.S. towns
9.4% of residents are in poverty, where Virginia as a whole has 9.9%. Chesapeake grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in three work in Chesapeake itself; outside it, Virginia Beach draws the most (20%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Chesapeake apart on work
The four measures behind Chesapeake’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chesapeake is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #138 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car holds Chesapeake’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chesapeake could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who leaves Chesapeake for work, and who comes in
On a workday 69,175 residents head out to work, 30,900 work right here, and 72,152 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.03 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Chesapeake ends
Where Chesapeake clocks in
20% of workers
18% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The kinds of work in Chesapeake
103,052 jobs are based in Chesapeake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chesapeake, 2013 → 2023: 91,852 → 103,052. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chesapeake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way, about the VA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chesapeake workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 108,129 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia: 83% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Chesapeake works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Chesapeake start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chesapeake is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #149 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 124,399 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 42% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.0% of Chesapeake households have no vehicle (Virginia 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chesapeake’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Chesapeake is 26th of 103 U.S. towns of 179,000 to 345,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Arlington VA | 236,254 | $142K | 7.4% | 3.3% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Santa Ana CA | 315,586 | $94K | 10.8% | 4.8% | 18% | B+ |
| 25 | Anchorage AK | 287,155 | $103K | 8.9% | 4.6% | — | B+ |
| 26 | Chesapeake VA | 255,332 | $95K | 9.4% | 4.9% | 31% | B+ |
| 27 | Boise City ID | 238,429 | $84K | 10.6% | 3.6% | 62% | B+ |
| 28 | Irving TX | 257,076 | $82K | 11.0% | 4.5% | 21% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Norfolk VA | 231,013 | $66K | 16.5% | 5.7% | 36% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Newport News VA | 183,230 | $70K | 14.5% | 5.8% | 40% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Baton Rouge LA | 222,795 | $50K | 25.7% | 9.2% | 48% | C− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Chesapeake, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia.
Work next door: 47% of Chesapeake’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chesapeake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake | – | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $95,373 |
| Portsmouth | 5% | C | A | 24 min | $60,491 |
| Virginia Beach | 20% | A− | A− | 23 min | $92,968 |
| Suffolk | 4% | B+ | C+ | 30 min | $92,666 |
| Norfolk | 18% | C+ | A+ | 23 min | $66,109 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Virginia Beach. Darker towns draw more of Chesapeake’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Chesapeake: questions
What is the median household income in Chesapeake?
$95,373 (±$2,728) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chesapeake?
9.4%, against 9.9% across Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chesapeake?
26 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chesapeake work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Virginia Beach (20%, 17 mi), Norfolk (18%, 17 mi), Portsmouth (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chesapeake walkable?
Chesapeake is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chesapeake without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chesapeake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chesapeake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.