Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Virginia

Cities in Virginia by employed residents

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest employed residents of 34 cities in 2024, at 228,418. Martinsville, VA had the lowest, at 5,815. The median was 16,512. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest228,418Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest5,815Martinsville, VA
Median16,51234 cities

All cities, 2024

Virginia Beach, VA: 228,418 personsVirginia Beach, VA228,418Richmond, VA: 126,145 personsRichmond, VA126,145Chesapeake, VA: 123,128 personsChesapeake, VA123,128Norfolk, VA: 104,134 personsNorfolk, VA104,134Alexandria, VA: 98,852 personsAlexandria, VA98,852Newport News, VA: 86,264 personsNewport News, VA86,264Hampton, VA: 64,881 personsHampton, VA64,881Suffolk, VA: 49,346 personsSuffolk, VA49,346Roanoke, VA: 47,189 personsRoanoke, VA47,189Portsmouth, VA: 42,383 personsPortsmouth, VA42,383Lynchburg, VA: 36,071 personsLynchburg, VA36,071Leesburg, VA: 29,224 personsLeesburg, VA29,224Harrisonburg, VA: 25,098 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,098Charlottesville, VA: 24,139 personsCharlottesville, VA24,139Manassas, VA: 23,580 personsManassas, VA23,580Blacksburg, VA: 20,892 personsBlacksburg, VA20,892Danville, VA: 16,966 personsDanville, VA16,966Fredericksburg, VA: 16,058 personsFredericksburg, VA16,058Herndon, VA: 14,988 personsHerndon, VA14,988Petersburg, VA: 14,463 personsPetersburg, VA14,463Fairfax, VA: 14,312 personsFairfax, VA14,312Winchester, VA: 14,275 personsWinchester, VA14,275Salem, VA: 13,021 personsSalem, VA13,021Staunton, VA: 12,979 personsStaunton, VA12,979Waynesboro, VA: 11,836 personsWaynesboro, VA11,836Manassas Park, VA: 9,813 personsManassas Park, VA9,813Hopewell, VA: 9,638 personsHopewell, VA9,638Colonial Heights, VA: 9,054 personsColonial Heights, VA9,054Radford, VA: 8,703 personsRadford, VA8,703Falls Church, VA: 8,158 personsFalls Church, VA8,158Bristol, VA: 7,042 personsBristol, VA7,042Williamsburg, VA: 6,864 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,864Poquoson, VA: 6,734 personsPoquoson, VA6,734Martinsville, VA: 5,815 personsMartinsville, VA5,815Virginia Beach, VA: 228,418 personsVirginia Beach, VA228,418Richmond, VA: 126,145 personsRichmond, VA126,145Chesapeake, VA: 123,128 personsChesapeake, VA123,128Norfolk, VA: 104,134 personsNorfolk, VA104,134Alexandria, VA: 98,852 personsAlexandria, VA98,852Newport News, VA: 86,264 personsNewport News, VA86,264Hampton, VA: 64,881 personsHampton, VA64,881Suffolk, VA: 49,346 personsSuffolk, VA49,346Roanoke, VA: 47,189 personsRoanoke, VA47,189Portsmouth, VA: 42,383 personsPortsmouth, VA42,383Lynchburg, VA: 36,071 personsLynchburg, VA36,071Leesburg, VA: 29,224 personsLeesburg, VA29,224Harrisonburg, VA: 25,098 personsHarrisonburg, VA25,098Charlottesville, VA: 24,139 personsCharlottesville, VA24,139Manassas, VA: 23,580 personsManassas, VA23,580Blacksburg, VA: 20,892 personsBlacksburg, VA20,892Danville, VA: 16,966 personsDanville, VA16,966Fredericksburg, VA: 16,058 personsFredericksburg, VA16,058Herndon, VA: 14,988 personsHerndon, VA14,988Petersburg, VA: 14,463 personsPetersburg, VA14,463Fairfax, VA: 14,312 personsFairfax, VA14,312Winchester, VA: 14,275 personsWinchester, VA14,275Salem, VA: 13,021 personsSalem, VA13,021Staunton, VA: 12,979 personsStaunton, VA12,979Waynesboro, VA: 11,836 personsWaynesboro, VA11,836Manassas Park, VA: 9,813 personsManassas Park, VA9,813Hopewell, VA: 9,638 personsHopewell, VA9,638Colonial Heights, VA: 9,054 personsColonial Heights, VA9,054Radford, VA: 8,703 personsRadford, VA8,703Falls Church, VA: 8,158 personsFalls Church, VA8,158Bristol, VA: 7,042 personsBristol, VA7,042Williamsburg, VA: 6,864 personsWilliamsburg, VA6,864Poquoson, VA: 6,734 personsPoquoson, VA6,734Martinsville, VA: 5,815 personsMartinsville, VA5,815
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Virginia Beach, VA228,418-0.2%
2Richmond, VA126,145+0.3%
3Chesapeake, VA123,1280%
4Norfolk, VA104,134-0.5%
5Alexandria, VA98,852+0.6%
6Newport News, VA86,264-0.5%
7Hampton, VA64,881-0.1%
8Suffolk, VA49,346+1.6%
9Roanoke, VA47,189+0.2%
10Portsmouth, VA42,383-0.7%
11Lynchburg, VA36,071-1.3%
12Leesburg, VA29,224-0.5%
13Harrisonburg, VA25,098-1.9%
14Charlottesville, VA24,139-0%
15Manassas, VA23,5800%
16Blacksburg, VA20,892-1.8%
17Danville, VA16,966+0.3%
18Fredericksburg, VA16,058+1.4%
19Herndon, VA14,988n/a
20Petersburg, VA14,463+1%
21Fairfax, VA14,312+2.3%
22Winchester, VA14,275-1.7%
23Salem, VA13,021+0.7%
24Staunton, VA12,979+0.8%
25Waynesboro, VA11,836+1%
26Manassas Park, VA9,813-0.2%
27Hopewell, VA9,638-0.7%
28Colonial Heights, VA9,054+0.1%
29Radford, VA8,703+0.3%
30Falls Church, VA8,158+0.3%
31Bristol, VA7,042-2.6%
32Williamsburg, VA6,864-0.9%
33Poquoson, VA6,734+1.5%
34Martinsville, VA5,815-1.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024) [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: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024. 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/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024. 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/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_virginia_by_2024,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024}},
  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/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Virginia by employed residents, 2024
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/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/virginia-cities?period=2024.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Virginia Beach, VA, with 228,418 in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Martinsville, VA, with 5,815 in 2024.

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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Virginia: more rankings