Potomac MillsVA
A regional job hub with 12,383 jobs. A town in Virginia, home to 5,741 people.
Is Potomac Mills a good place to live?
A strong record with one exception. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): it is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. Potomac Mills grades B overall and ranks 157th of 249 in Virginia. Nationally, it does better than three fifths of U.S. towns. Health is another plus — it is healthier than 66% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $583K, 4.6 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. The biggest park or preserve is Chinn Park, at 28 acres. 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.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
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 of Potomac Mills’ workers leave town for work
12,383 jobs are based in Potomac Mills, 4.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Potomac Mills’ average trip to work stands at 30 minutes. Just 4% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. Among residents in the town, 15% live below the poverty line. 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
The FEMA risk score in Potomac Mills is 6 of 100. Expected losses in Potomac Mills break down as 49% from inland flooding and 12% from heat waves. Also worth knowing: this Virginia town has had 17 paid flood insurance claims since 1993.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
More children than Virginia overall
Here, just over two in five adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 42% in Virginia as a whole. In Potomac Mills, 14% of residents are 65 or older. For Potomac Mills, the age of the median resident is 37.4 years.
| 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’ grade for health is a B+
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.
For adults in Potomac Mills, the share who have been diagnosed with depression is 20%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Potomac Mills is ahead of Virginia on 5 and behind on 4. 38% of adults in Potomac Mills sleep under 7 hours; 14% binge drink.
| 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
The climate in Potomac Mills brings four seasons and pleasant 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 keeps 1.1% of its land conserved
Walkers can cover 1.8 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail network density for Potomac Mills comes to 0.4 miles per square mile.
| 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 $531K
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 share of households in Potomac Mills who own their home: 76%.
| Potomac Mills | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,956 a month | $1,760 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · 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−.