Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Poquoson grades B overall, 145th among Virginia's 249 graded towns. Its public schools beat 95% of Virginia towns on state tests and graduation. The median household earns $121K and it is healthier than 81% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $460K for a typical one and 5.6 times the Virginia Beach metro’s $82K median household income. On hazard risk, just 30 of Virginia’s 372 towns do worse. The biggest park or preserve is Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, at 3,435 acres. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
Where Poquoson beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1630, comes before those of 99% of the Virginia towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 4,278 in 1960, 12,460 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 6 maps from 1907 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Poquoson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Poquoson. Close and well known come first.
7 mi National MonumentFort Monroe National Monument
20 mi Theme parkBusch Gardens Williamsburg
24 mi MuseumColonial Williamsburg
19 mi MuseumMacArthur Memorial
27 mi MuseumJamestown Settlement
27 mi Ancient siteWerowocomocoFort Monroe National Monument: Unknown, Public domain · Busch Gardens Williamsburg: Cjh1452000, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Colonial Williamsburg: Humberto Moreno, CC BY 2.0 · MacArthur Memorial: Unknown, Public domain · Jamestown Settlement: Warfieldian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Werowocomoco: engraved by William Hole, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Poquoson, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Poquoson.
Poquoson fares better on crime within Virginia than nationally and has schools in the top 5% of Virginia, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Virginia (mostly inland flooding).
That grade ranks #8 of the 250 Virginia towns we grade for schools. It comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $460K.
The largest public high school is Poquoson High, with 647 students. Three of its 4 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Its public schools are run by the Poquoson City Public Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poquoson MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 491 | A |
| Poquoson HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 647 | A |
| Poquoson ElementaryTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 475 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Virginia is food insecurity: 7.9% of its 9,593 adults worry about having enough food, against 13.1% statewide. Against the 5,621 U.S. towns with household incomes like Poquoson’s, it is healthier than 57%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Poquoson, 15% report frequent mental distress, against 16% in Virginia’s towns and 17% across U.S. towns. In Poquoson, 32% of adults sleep under 7 hours. The town does better than the Virginia average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 1.
| Poquoson | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 12% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 33% |
| What stands out | Poquoson | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 13.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.9% | 10.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The top destinations are Newport News (31%), Hampton (15%) and Norfolk (4%). Commuting out is the norm in Poquoson: just over a tenth of working residents work locally. Among residents in the town, 4.5% live below the poverty line, where Virginia’s towns sit at 7.7% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Since 2013, Poquoson has added 82 jobs, to 1,720 in 2023.
| Poquoson | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $121,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 12% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Virginia towns, with expected losses of about $329 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 3,811 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 899 properties have flooded more than once.
The national flood insurance program has paid 3,811 claims in Poquoson since 1978. In Poquoson, the FEMA risk score is 68 of 100. FEMA puts 44% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 30% to coastal flooding. Federal aid has come to Poquoson households in 4 declared disasters; the latest was in 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The range runs from 32° on a January night to 88° on a July afternoon, with about 3 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 17% of residents (23% statewide). Since 2020, Poquoson has grown 6.7%, to 13,292 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Among adults 25 and older, 36% have a four-year degree or more, against 42% across Virginia. For residents in the town, the share who are 65 or older is 20%.
| Poquoson | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 44% | 29% |
| Median age | 41.2 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
49.2% women, 50.8% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.9 points. Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.0, men 40.8.
| Poquoson | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.1% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.5% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.1% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.4% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.4% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.5% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.5% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.5% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.3% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.4% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
66.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.5% across Virginia.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 1.8%. Among households in Poquoson, 85% live in a home they own. For Poquoson, the going rate for rent is $1,707 a month.
| Poquoson | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,707 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Trails total 2.0 miles in 3 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Lawson Park | 0.5 mi | 16 |
| 2. Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge | — | 3,435 |
| 3. East Messick Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 17.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 81% of Virginia’s graded towns.
In Poquoson, the rate of thefts and burglaries is 8.7 per 1,000 residents. The level of violent crime locally is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Poquoson | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.7 per 1,000 residents | 14.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
4 within 15 miles of the center of Poquoson
About 5 of every 100 Poquoson residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Coastal flooding makes up 30% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
Independent city in Virginia, United States
Poquoson (), informally known as Bull Island, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,460. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Poquoson with surrounding York County for statistical purposes. Poquoson is located on the Virginia Peninsula, in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Poquoson, which was formerly part of York County, became an incorporated town in 1952 and an independent city in 1975. (In Virginia, municipalities incorporated as independent cities are not part of any county.) However, the ties remain close. Over 30 years after Poquoson became a politically independent entity, some constitut…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Poquoson.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Poquoson grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #145 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A− for health, B− for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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