county

Portsmouth city, VA

Demographic and economic profile of Portsmouth city, VA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Portsmouth, Virginia is an independent city of 97,299 residents situated within the Hampton Roads metro, where its economy generates a GDP per capita of $62,476 against median worker earnings of $40,239 and a median household income of $60,491. The labor force participation rate stands at 62.9% with an unemployment rate of 6.6%, and 23.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs remain relatively low, with a median home value of $229,400 and median gross rent of $1,266 per month, while the city posted a 2.1% population gain over the past five years alongside a poverty rate of 17.6%.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

96,482

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$60,491

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

35.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+2.1% since 2018

Portsmouth city added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Black or African American Alone49,167 (50.6%)
  • White Alone35,186 (36.2%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races6,635 (6.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,096 (2.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,088 (2.1%)
  • Asian Alone1,673 (1.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish2,359
  2. 2.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)327
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)266
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)242
  5. 5.Other Indo-European214

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

15.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.3%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

9,074

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$62,476

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$32,915

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance9,821
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)5,705
  3. 3.Manufacturing (Group)5,454
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services4,062
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)3,058

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations14,615
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations8,733
  3. 3.Service Occupations8,184
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations6,453
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations4,155

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 1.62×)3,187
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.26×)5,203
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.20×)5,422
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.19×)2,331
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.18×)2,864

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$229,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,266/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

57.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9994,840 (20.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9994,431 (19.0%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9994,429 (19.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9992,157 (9.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,922 (8.2%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9991,736 (7.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

23.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,239

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

23.7 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

11.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone32,299 (71.1%)
  • Carpooled5,594 (12.3%)
  • Worked At Home3,959 (8.7%)
  • Walked1,456 (3.2%)
  • Other1,064 (2.3%)
  • Public Transit726 (1.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.