Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Virginia

Cities in Virginia by population

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest population of 39 cities in 2020, at 459,626. Warrenton, VA had the lowest, at 10,048. The median was 27,997 and the figure for Virginia was 8.64 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest459,626Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest10,048Warrenton, VA
Median27,99739 cities
Virginia8,637,303History

All cities, 2020

Virginia Beach, VA: 459,626 personsVirginia Beach, VA459,626Chesapeake, VA: 249,655 personsChesapeake, VA249,655Norfolk, VA: 237,859 personsNorfolk, VA237,859Richmond, VA: 226,927 personsRichmond, VA226,927Newport News, VA: 186,030 personsNewport News, VA186,030Alexandria, VA: 159,147 personsAlexandria, VA159,147Hampton, VA: 137,279 personsHampton, VA137,279Roanoke, VA: 99,903 personsRoanoke, VA99,903Portsmouth, VA: 97,991 personsPortsmouth, VA97,991Suffolk, VA: 94,818 personsSuffolk, VA94,818Lynchburg, VA: 78,995 personsLynchburg, VA78,995Harrisonburg, VA: 51,698 personsHarrisonburg, VA51,698Leesburg, VA: 48,433 personsLeesburg, VA48,433Charlottesville, VA: 46,433 personsCharlottesville, VA46,433Blacksburg, VA: 44,766 personsBlacksburg, VA44,766Manassas, VA: 42,690 personsManassas, VA42,690Danville, VA: 42,572 personsDanville, VA42,572Petersburg, VA: 33,398 personsPetersburg, VA33,398Winchester, VA: 28,003 personsWinchester, VA28,003Fredericksburg, VA: 27,997 personsFredericksburg, VA27,997Staunton, VA: 25,810 personsStaunton, VA25,810Salem, VA: 25,398 personsSalem, VA25,398Herndon, VA: 24,585 personsHerndon, VA24,585Fairfax, VA: 24,174 personsFairfax, VA24,174Christiansburg, VA: 23,315 personsChristiansburg, VA23,315Hopewell, VA: 23,012 personsHopewell, VA23,012Waynesboro, VA: 22,280 personsWaynesboro, VA22,280Culpeper, VA: 20,166 personsCulpeper, VA20,166Colonial Heights, VA: 18,162 personsColonial Heights, VA18,162Bristol, VA: 17,321 personsBristol, VA17,321Manassas Park, VA: 17,161 personsManassas Park, VA17,161Vienna, VA: 16,451 personsVienna, VA16,451Radford, VA: 16,117 personsRadford, VA16,117Williamsburg, VA: 15,459 personsWilliamsburg, VA15,459Front Royal, VA: 15,026 personsFront Royal, VA15,026Falls Church, VA: 14,677 personsFalls Church, VA14,677Martinsville, VA: 13,478 personsMartinsville, VA13,478Poquoson, VA: 12,472 personsPoquoson, VA12,472Warrenton, VA: 10,048 personsWarrenton, VA10,048Virginia Beach, VA: 459,626 personsVirginia Beach, VA459,626Chesapeake, VA: 249,655 personsChesapeake, VA249,655Norfolk, VA: 237,859 personsNorfolk, VA237,859Richmond, VA: 226,927 personsRichmond, VA226,927Newport News, VA: 186,030 personsNewport News, VA186,030Alexandria, VA: 159,147 personsAlexandria, VA159,147Hampton, VA: 137,279 personsHampton, VA137,279Roanoke, VA: 99,903 personsRoanoke, VA99,903Portsmouth, VA: 97,991 personsPortsmouth, VA97,991Suffolk, VA: 94,818 personsSuffolk, VA94,818Lynchburg, VA: 78,995 personsLynchburg, VA78,995Harrisonburg, VA: 51,698 personsHarrisonburg, VA51,698Leesburg, VA: 48,433 personsLeesburg, VA48,433Charlottesville, VA: 46,433 personsCharlottesville, VA46,433Blacksburg, VA: 44,766 personsBlacksburg, VA44,766Manassas, VA: 42,690 personsManassas, VA42,690Danville, VA: 42,572 personsDanville, VA42,572Petersburg, VA: 33,398 personsPetersburg, VA33,398Winchester, VA: 28,003 personsWinchester, VA28,003Fredericksburg, VA: 27,997 personsFredericksburg, VA27,997Staunton, VA: 25,810 personsStaunton, VA25,810Salem, VA: 25,398 personsSalem, VA25,398Herndon, VA: 24,585 personsHerndon, VA24,585Fairfax, VA: 24,174 personsFairfax, VA24,174Christiansburg, VA: 23,315 personsChristiansburg, VA23,315Hopewell, VA: 23,012 personsHopewell, VA23,012Waynesboro, VA: 22,280 personsWaynesboro, VA22,280Culpeper, VA: 20,166 personsCulpeper, VA20,166Colonial Heights, VA: 18,162 personsColonial Heights, VA18,162Bristol, VA: 17,321 personsBristol, VA17,321Manassas Park, VA: 17,161 personsManassas Park, VA17,161Vienna, VA: 16,451 personsVienna, VA16,451Radford, VA: 16,117 personsRadford, VA16,117Williamsburg, VA: 15,459 personsWilliamsburg, VA15,459Front Royal, VA: 15,026 personsFront Royal, VA15,026Falls Church, VA: 14,677 personsFalls Church, VA14,677Martinsville, VA: 13,478 personsMartinsville, VA13,478Poquoson, VA: 12,472 personsPoquoson, VA12,472Warrenton, VA: 10,048 personsWarrenton, VA10,048
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons
1Virginia Beach, VA459,626
2Chesapeake, VA249,655
3Norfolk, VA237,859
4Richmond, VA226,927
5Newport News, VA186,030
6Alexandria, VA159,147
7Hampton, VA137,279
8Roanoke, VA99,903
9Portsmouth, VA97,991
10Suffolk, VA94,818
11Lynchburg, VA78,995
12Harrisonburg, VA51,698
13Leesburg, VA48,433
14Charlottesville, VA46,433
15Blacksburg, VA44,766
16Manassas, VA42,690
17Danville, VA42,572
18Petersburg, VA33,398
19Winchester, VA28,003
20Fredericksburg, VA27,997
21Staunton, VA25,810
22Salem, VA25,398
23Herndon, VA24,585
24Fairfax, VA24,174
25Christiansburg, VA23,315
26Hopewell, VA23,012
27Waynesboro, VA22,280
28Culpeper, VA20,166
29Colonial Heights, VA18,162
30Bristol, VA17,321
31Manassas Park, VA17,161
32Vienna, VA16,451
33Radford, VA16,117
34Williamsburg, VA15,459
35Front Royal, VA15,026
36Falls Church, VA14,677
37Martinsville, VA13,478
38Poquoson, VA12,472
39Warrenton, VA10,048

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

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. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. 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. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Virginia by population, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Virginia by population, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Virginia by population, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Virginia by population, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_virginia_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Virginia by population, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Virginia by population, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Cities in Virginia by population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"municipality","within":"Virginia","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&level=municipality&within=Virginia&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Virginia Beach, VA, with 459,626 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Warrenton, VA, with 10,048 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Virginia: more rankings