Potomac MillsVA
A town of 5,741. A regional job hub with 12,383 jobs.
Is Potomac Mills a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Potomac Mills grades B overall, 157th of 249 graded towns in Virginia. It is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $583K for a typical one and 4.6 times the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Potomac Mills’ median rent is $1,956 a month, against $1,760 a month in Virginia’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Chinn Park, at 28 acres.
What makes Potomac Mills stand out
Where Potomac Mills beats most towns.
Jobs vs. working residents
Potomac Mills has grown 13% from 2010 to 2020
5,614 counted in 2010 and 6,332 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Potomac Mills grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Potomac Mills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
White House and 236 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Potomac Mills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw21 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw20 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw20 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw22 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
Big draw21 mi National MemorialLincoln Memorial7.7M visitors a yearPhoto credits
White House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Lincoln Memorial: Aerial_view_of_Lincoln_Memorial_-_east_side.jpg: Carol M. Highsmith derivative w, Public domain
Moving to Potomac Mills: who provides what
Potomac Mills is unincorporated, so Prince William County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Potomac Mills.
Potomac Mills draws workers from Dale City and beyond and owes part of its health edge to its incomes, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Most working residents commute out of Potomac Mills
12,383 jobs are based in Potomac Mills, 4.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Potomac Mills for work: only 4% work in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Potomac Mills. The top destinations are Washington (8%), Arlington (5%) and Alexandria (5%).
| Potomac Mills | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloverdale School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 96 | – |
| Christ Chapel Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 519 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
Very low risk in Potomac Mills, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 94% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Potomac Mills.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More children than Virginia overall
14% of Potomac Mills residents are 65 or older. 41% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 42% across Virginia.
| Potomac Mills | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 44% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.4 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.3 points. Across Virginia, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Potomac Mills | VA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 19.8% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.7% | 13.5% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.4% | 13.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.6% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.3% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.3% | 9.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.3% | 6.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 13.9% | 8.4% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.8% | 23.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 12.9% | 17.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.3% | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.6% | 23.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.5% | 18.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Potomac Mills is healthier than 66% of U.S. towns
Against the 7,902 U.S. towns with household incomes like Potomac Mills’s, it is less healthy than 55%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Potomac Mills beats the Virginia average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4.
| Potomac Mills | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 22% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 14% | 16% |
| What stands out | Potomac Mills | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.2% | 11.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.9% | 7.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.5% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Potomac Mills, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Potomac Mills has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 27° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Potomac Mills | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.1% | 4.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chinn Park | — | 28 |
| 2. Rollingwood Village Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Potomac Mills sell for about $443K
77.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.5% across Virginia. The median property tax bill is $4,794, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median sale price was $443,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Potomac Mills
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Potomac Mills
About 9 of every 100 Potomac Mills residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Every workday, about 12,272 people come to Potomac Mills for work
Where Potomac Mills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Potomac Mills
CDP in Virginia, United States
Potomac Mills is a census-designated place in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 5,614. It consists of the Potomac Mills mall and surrounding residential and commercial area, adjoining Dale City and Lake Ridge. Potomac Mills largely overlaps with the unincorporated community of Bethel.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.0 sq mi
Potomac Mills’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Potomac Mills.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac Mills | #157 | B | C− | — | B | B+ |
| Lake Ridge | #83 | A− | C | — | B | A− |
| Dale City | #117 | B+ | C+ | — | B | B |
Potomac Mills, Lake Ridge and Dale City report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Potomac Mills with a neighbor →
Questions about Potomac Mills
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Potomac Mills, VA a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Potomac Mills grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #157 of 249 in Virginia. It grades B+ for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Potomac Mills, VA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $583,000, 41% above the Virginia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.