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 2022, at 229,377. Martinsville, VA had the lowest, at 6,127. The median was 17,345. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest229,377Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest6,127Martinsville, VA
Median17,34533 cities

All cities, 2022

Virginia Beach, VA: 229,377 personsVirginia Beach, VA229,377Richmond, VA: 126,563 personsRichmond, VA126,563Chesapeake, VA: 122,617 personsChesapeake, VA122,617Norfolk, VA: 106,062 personsNorfolk, VA106,062Alexandria, VA: 98,114 personsAlexandria, VA98,114Newport News, VA: 87,787 personsNewport News, VA87,787Hampton, VA: 65,874 personsHampton, VA65,874Roanoke, VA: 47,654 personsRoanoke, VA47,654Suffolk, VA: 47,521 personsSuffolk, VA47,521Portsmouth, VA: 43,223 personsPortsmouth, VA43,223Lynchburg, VA: 37,339 personsLynchburg, VA37,339Leesburg, VA: 29,255 personsLeesburg, VA29,255Harrisonburg, VA: 25,920 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,920Charlottesville, VA: 24,241 personsCharlottesville, VA24,241Manassas, VA: 23,515 personsManassas, VA23,515Blacksburg, VA: 21,381 personsBlacksburg, VA21,381Danville, VA: 17,345 personsDanville, VA17,345Fredericksburg, VA: 15,726 personsFredericksburg, VA15,726Petersburg, VA: 14,831 personsPetersburg, VA14,831Winchester, VA: 14,764 personsWinchester, VA14,764Fairfax, VA: 13,718 personsFairfax, VA13,718Salem, VA: 13,010 personsSalem, VA13,010Staunton, VA: 12,845 personsStaunton, VA12,845Waynesboro, VA: 11,514 personsWaynesboro, VA11,514Manassas Park, VA: 10,014 personsManassas Park, VA10,014Hopewell, VA: 9,938 personsHopewell, VA9,938Colonial Heights, VA: 9,072 personsColonial Heights, VA9,072Radford, VA: 8,580 personsRadford, VA8,580Falls Church, VA: 8,005 personsFalls Church, VA8,005Bristol, VA: 7,399 personsBristol, VA7,399Williamsburg, VA: 6,862 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,862Poquoson, VA: 6,613 personsPoquoson, VA6,613Martinsville, VA: 6,127 personsMartinsville, VA6,127Virginia Beach, VA: 229,377 personsVirginia Beach, VA229,377Richmond, VA: 126,563 personsRichmond, VA126,563Chesapeake, VA: 122,617 personsChesapeake, VA122,617Norfolk, VA: 106,062 personsNorfolk, VA106,062Alexandria, VA: 98,114 personsAlexandria, VA98,114Newport News, VA: 87,787 personsNewport News, VA87,787Hampton, VA: 65,874 personsHampton, VA65,874Roanoke, VA: 47,654 personsRoanoke, VA47,654Suffolk, VA: 47,521 personsSuffolk, VA47,521Portsmouth, VA: 43,223 personsPortsmouth, VA43,223Lynchburg, VA: 37,339 personsLynchburg, VA37,339Leesburg, VA: 29,255 personsLeesburg, VA29,255Harrisonburg, VA: 25,920 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,920Charlottesville, VA: 24,241 personsCharlottesville, VA24,241Manassas, VA: 23,515 personsManassas, VA23,515Blacksburg, VA: 21,381 personsBlacksburg, VA21,381Danville, VA: 17,345 personsDanville, VA17,345Fredericksburg, VA: 15,726 personsFredericksburg, VA15,726Petersburg, VA: 14,831 personsPetersburg, VA14,831Winchester, VA: 14,764 personsWinchester, VA14,764Fairfax, VA: 13,718 personsFairfax, VA13,718Salem, VA: 13,010 personsSalem, VA13,010Staunton, VA: 12,845 personsStaunton, VA12,845Waynesboro, VA: 11,514 personsWaynesboro, VA11,514Manassas Park, VA: 10,014 personsManassas Park, VA10,014Hopewell, VA: 9,938 personsHopewell, VA9,938Colonial Heights, VA: 9,072 personsColonial Heights, VA9,072Radford, VA: 8,580 personsRadford, VA8,580Falls Church, VA: 8,005 personsFalls Church, VA8,005Bristol, VA: 7,399 personsBristol, VA7,399Williamsburg, VA: 6,862 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,862Poquoson, VA: 6,613 personsPoquoson, VA6,613Martinsville, VA: 6,127 personsMartinsville, VA6,127
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

RankCities2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Virginia Beach, VA229,377+1.4%
2Richmond, VA126,563+2.1%
3Chesapeake, VA122,617+2.5%
4Norfolk, VA106,062-0%
5Alexandria, VA98,114+2%
6Newport News, VA87,787+0.8%
7Hampton, VA65,874+1.5%
8Roanoke, VA47,654+0.7%
9Suffolk, VA47,521+4.2%
10Portsmouth, VA43,223-0.3%
11Lynchburg, VA37,339+1%
12Leesburg, VA29,255+3%
13Harrisonburg, VA25,920+1.6%
14Charlottesville, VA24,241+1.6%
15Manassas, VA23,515+2.1%
16Blacksburg, VA21,381+4.5%
17Danville, VA17,345+0.3%
18Fredericksburg, VA15,726+3.1%
19Petersburg, VA14,831-0.5%
20Winchester, VA14,764+1.6%
21Fairfax, VA13,718+4.4%
22Salem, VA13,010+4%
23Staunton, VA12,845+4.5%
24Waynesboro, VA11,514+4.3%
25Manassas Park, VA10,014-0.2%
26Hopewell, VA9,938-0.4%
27Colonial Heights, VA9,072+2.3%
28Radford, VA8,580+4.9%
29Falls Church, VA8,005+2.9%
30Bristol, VA7,399+0.7%
31Williamsburg, VA6,862+3.2%
32Poquoson, VA6,613+2.8%
33Martinsville, VA6,127+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 2022 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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_virginia_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/virginia-cities?period=2022.
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 229,377 in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Martinsville, VA, with 6,127 in 2022.

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 2022 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Virginia: more rankings