Photo: DanRVA · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Virginia Beach earn more than those in 71% of U.S. towns
8.6% of residents are in poverty; Virginia State has 9.9%. The two grades for Virginia Beach are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 11.4 in Norfolk.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Virginia Beach
Most jobs in Virginia Beach go to people who live here
Of the 165,839 jobs based in Virginia Beach, 52% are held by Virginia Beach residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
A lot of Virginia Beach works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Virginia Beach: Norfolk (17%) and Chesapeake (12%). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Where Virginia Beach’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Virginia Beach is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #126 of 253 in Virginia. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Virginia Beach could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 96,127 residents head out to work, 86,370 work right here, and 79,469 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 (0.91 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.
17% of working residents work in Norfolk
Where Virginia Beach clocks in
17% of workers
12% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Virginia Beach: what the 165,839 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Virginia Beach, 2013 → 2023: 157,398 → 165,839. 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 Virginia Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Virginia State
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Virginia Beach workers work from home, vs 18% across Virginia State. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 204,975 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Virginia State: 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 Virginia Beach works
About 15% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
In Virginia Beach, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Virginia Beach is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #102 of 253 in Virginia. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Virginia State.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 239,302 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 65% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 4.6% of Virginia Beach households have no vehicle (Virginia State 6.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Virginia Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Virginia Beach is 3rd of 37 U.S. towns of 318,000 to 613,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Islip NY | 340,867 | $130K | 6.4% | 4.5% | 28% | A |
| 2 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 3 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 4 | Irvine CA | 318,764 | $137K | 10.8% | 5.9% | 29% | B+ |
| 5 | Mesa AZ | 513,656 | $83K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | 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 Virginia Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Virginia State.
Virginia Beach and its neighbors: 29% work next door
The biggest share goes to Norfolk (17%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Virginia Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach | – | A− | A− | 23 min | $92,968 |
| Norfolk | 17% | C+ | A+ | 23 min | $66,109 |
| Chesapeake | 12% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $95,373 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Virginia Beach’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 Virginia Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Virginia Beach?
$92,968 (±$1,774) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $93,170 across Virginia State and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Virginia Beach?
8.6%, against 9.9% across Virginia State and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Virginia Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Virginia State and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Virginia Beach work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Norfolk (17%, 16 mi), Chesapeake (12%, 17 mi), Portsmouth (2%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Virginia Beach walkable?
Virginia Beach is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Virginia Beach without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Virginia Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Virginia Beach
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.