Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Virginia

Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest civilian labor force of 33 cities in 2021, at 226,272. Martinsville, VA had the lowest, at 6,046. The median was 17,286. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest226,272Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest6,046Martinsville, VA
Median17,28633 cities

All cities, 2021

Virginia Beach, VA: 226,272 personsVirginia Beach, VA226,272Richmond, VA: 123,928 personsRichmond, VA123,928Chesapeake, VA: 119,678 personsChesapeake, VA119,678Norfolk, VA: 106,112 personsNorfolk, VA106,112Alexandria, VA: 96,175 personsAlexandria, VA96,175Newport News, VA: 87,082 personsNewport News, VA87,082Hampton, VA: 64,908 personsHampton, VA64,908Roanoke, VA: 47,303 personsRoanoke, VA47,303Suffolk, VA: 45,621 personsSuffolk, VA45,621Portsmouth, VA: 43,369 personsPortsmouth, VA43,369Lynchburg, VA: 36,981 personsLynchburg, VA36,981Leesburg, VA: 28,395 personsLeesburg, VA28,395Harrisonburg, VA: 25,511 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,511Charlottesville, VA: 23,848 personsCharlottesville, VA23,848Manassas, VA: 23,029 personsManassas, VA23,029Blacksburg, VA: 20,455 personsBlacksburg, VA20,455Danville, VA: 17,286 personsDanville, VA17,286Fredericksburg, VA: 15,255 personsFredericksburg, VA15,255Petersburg, VA: 14,909 personsPetersburg, VA14,909Winchester, VA: 14,525 personsWinchester, VA14,525Fairfax, VA: 13,138 personsFairfax, VA13,138Salem, VA: 12,511 personsSalem, VA12,511Staunton, VA: 12,287 personsStaunton, VA12,287Waynesboro, VA: 11,035 personsWaynesboro, VA11,035Manassas Park, VA: 10,034 personsManassas Park, VA10,034Hopewell, VA: 9,980 personsHopewell, VA9,980Colonial Heights, VA: 8,867 personsColonial Heights, VA8,867Radford, VA: 8,180 personsRadford, VA8,180Falls Church, VA: 7,776 personsFalls Church, VA7,776Bristol, VA: 7,344 personsBristol, VA7,344Williamsburg, VA: 6,652 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,652Poquoson, VA: 6,430 personsPoquoson, VA6,430Martinsville, VA: 6,046 personsMartinsville, VA6,046Virginia Beach, VA: 226,272 personsVirginia Beach, VA226,272Richmond, VA: 123,928 personsRichmond, VA123,928Chesapeake, VA: 119,678 personsChesapeake, VA119,678Norfolk, VA: 106,112 personsNorfolk, VA106,112Alexandria, VA: 96,175 personsAlexandria, VA96,175Newport News, VA: 87,082 personsNewport News, VA87,082Hampton, VA: 64,908 personsHampton, VA64,908Roanoke, VA: 47,303 personsRoanoke, VA47,303Suffolk, VA: 45,621 personsSuffolk, VA45,621Portsmouth, VA: 43,369 personsPortsmouth, VA43,369Lynchburg, VA: 36,981 personsLynchburg, VA36,981Leesburg, VA: 28,395 personsLeesburg, VA28,395Harrisonburg, VA: 25,511 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,511Charlottesville, VA: 23,848 personsCharlottesville, VA23,848Manassas, VA: 23,029 personsManassas, VA23,029Blacksburg, VA: 20,455 personsBlacksburg, VA20,455Danville, VA: 17,286 personsDanville, VA17,286Fredericksburg, VA: 15,255 personsFredericksburg, VA15,255Petersburg, VA: 14,909 personsPetersburg, VA14,909Winchester, VA: 14,525 personsWinchester, VA14,525Fairfax, VA: 13,138 personsFairfax, VA13,138Salem, VA: 12,511 personsSalem, VA12,511Staunton, VA: 12,287 personsStaunton, VA12,287Waynesboro, VA: 11,035 personsWaynesboro, VA11,035Manassas Park, VA: 10,034 personsManassas Park, VA10,034Hopewell, VA: 9,980 personsHopewell, VA9,980Colonial Heights, VA: 8,867 personsColonial Heights, VA8,867Radford, VA: 8,180 personsRadford, VA8,180Falls Church, VA: 7,776 personsFalls Church, VA7,776Bristol, VA: 7,344 personsBristol, VA7,344Williamsburg, VA: 6,652 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,652Poquoson, VA: 6,430 personsPoquoson, VA6,430Martinsville, VA: 6,046 personsMartinsville, VA6,046
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Virginia Beach, VA226,272-1.1%
2Richmond, VA123,928-1.9%
3Chesapeake, VA119,678+0.2%
4Norfolk, VA106,112-2.9%
5Alexandria, VA96,175-2.5%
6Newport News, VA87,082-2.5%
7Hampton, VA64,908-1.1%
8Roanoke, VA47,303-2.7%
9Suffolk, VA45,621+1.3%
10Portsmouth, VA43,369-2%
11Lynchburg, VA36,981-1.3%
12Leesburg, VA28,395+1.2%
13Harrisonburg, VA25,511-0.1%
14Charlottesville, VA23,848-2.7%
15Manassas, VA23,029-0.1%
16Blacksburg, VA20,455+5.4%
17Danville, VA17,286-3.3%
18Fredericksburg, VA15,255+1.3%
19Petersburg, VA14,909-2.6%
20Winchester, VA14,525-0.9%
21Fairfax, VA13,138+0.7%
22Salem, VA12,511-0.6%
23Staunton, VA12,287-1.5%
24Waynesboro, VA11,035+0.3%
25Manassas Park, VA10,034-1%
26Hopewell, VA9,980-2%
27Colonial Heights, VA8,867-0.6%
28Radford, VA8,180+4.3%
29Falls Church, VA7,776+0.1%
30Bristol, VA7,344-3.4%
31Williamsburg, VA6,652-0.9%
32Poquoson, VA6,430+1.7%
33Martinsville, VA6,046-1.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2021 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_virginia_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Virginia by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Virginia Beach, VA, with 226,272 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Martinsville, VA, with 6,046 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2021 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Virginia: more rankings