Cities in Virginia by population

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest population of 39 cities in 2023, at 453,402. Warrenton, VA had the lowest, at 10,217. The median was 27,864 and the figure for Virginia was 8.73 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest453,402Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest10,217Warrenton, VA
Median27,86439 cities
Virginia8,732,034History

All cities, 2023

Virginia Beach, VA: 453,402 personsVirginia Beach, VA453,402Chesapeake, VA: 253,782 personsChesapeake, VA253,782Norfolk, VA: 232,862 personsNorfolk, VA232,862Richmond, VA: 230,804 personsRichmond, VA230,804Newport News, VA: 183,311 personsNewport News, VA183,311Alexandria, VA: 155,798 personsAlexandria, VA155,798Hampton, VA: 137,043 personsHampton, VA137,043Suffolk, VA: 100,927 personsSuffolk, VA100,927Roanoke, VA: 97,741 personsRoanoke, VA97,741Portsmouth, VA: 97,030 personsPortsmouth, VA97,030Lynchburg, VA: 79,769 personsLynchburg, VA79,769Harrisonburg, VA: 50,976 personsHarrisonburg, VA50,976Leesburg, VA: 49,405 personsLeesburg, VA49,405Blacksburg, VA: 45,470 personsBlacksburg, VA45,470Charlottesville, VA: 44,832 personsCharlottesville, VA44,832Manassas, VA: 43,184 personsManassas, VA43,184Danville, VA: 42,060 personsDanville, VA42,060Petersburg, VA: 33,316 personsPetersburg, VA33,316Fredericksburg, VA: 29,180 personsFredericksburg, VA29,180Winchester, VA: 27,864 personsWinchester, VA27,864Staunton, VA: 25,855 personsStaunton, VA25,855Salem, VA: 25,575 personsSalem, VA25,575Fairfax, VA: 25,070 personsFairfax, VA25,070Herndon, VA: 24,971 personsHerndon, VA24,971Waynesboro, VA: 23,128 personsWaynesboro, VA23,128Hopewell, VA: 22,911 personsHopewell, VA22,911Christiansburg, VA: 22,535 personsChristiansburg, VA22,535Culpeper, VA: 21,138 personsCulpeper, VA21,138Colonial Heights, VA: 18,409 personsColonial Heights, VA18,409Radford, VA: 16,969 personsRadford, VA16,969Bristol, VA: 16,709 personsBristol, VA16,709Vienna, VA: 16,350 personsVienna, VA16,350Manassas Park, VA: 16,316 personsManassas Park, VA16,316Williamsburg, VA: 16,046 personsWilliamsburg, VA16,046Front Royal, VA: 15,451 personsFront Royal, VA15,451Falls Church, VA: 14,808 personsFalls Church, VA14,808Martinsville, VA: 13,726 personsMartinsville, VA13,726Poquoson, VA: 12,602 personsPoquoson, VA12,602Warrenton, VA: 10,217 personsWarrenton, VA10,217
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

RankCities2023
persons
Change on 2022
1Virginia Beach, VA453,402-0.3%
2Chesapeake, VA253,782+0.5%
3Norfolk, VA232,862-0%
4Richmond, VA230,804+0.8%
5Newport News, VA183,311-0.4%
6Alexandria, VA155,798+0.6%
7Hampton, VA137,043-0.6%
8Suffolk, VA100,927+2.3%
9Roanoke, VA97,741-0.2%
10Portsmouth, VA97,030-0%
11Lynchburg, VA79,769+0.6%
12Harrisonburg, VA50,976-0.1%
13Leesburg, VA49,405+0.6%
14Blacksburg, VA45,470-0.2%
15Charlottesville, VA44,832-0.6%
16Manassas, VA43,184+1.1%
17Danville, VA42,060-0%
18Petersburg, VA33,316-0.5%
19Fredericksburg, VA29,180+1.6%
20Winchester, VA27,864-0.4%
21Staunton, VA25,855-0.3%
22Salem, VA25,575-0.4%
23Fairfax, VA25,070+1.7%
24Herndon, VA24,971+3.2%
25Waynesboro, VA23,128+1.7%
26Hopewell, VA22,911+0.2%
27Christiansburg, VA22,5350%
28Culpeper, VA21,138+1.8%
29Colonial Heights, VA18,409+0.9%
30Radford, VA16,969+1.5%
31Bristol, VA16,709-1.2%
32Vienna, VA16,350+0.3%
33Manassas Park, VA16,316-1.9%
34Williamsburg, VA16,046+2.2%
35Front Royal, VA15,451+1.3%
36Falls Church, VA14,808+2%
37Martinsville, VA13,726+0.5%
38Poquoson, VA12,602-0.1%
39Warrenton, VA10,217+0.2%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). Norway: Statistics Norway, 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.

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_virginia_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2023.
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  - 
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Virginia Beach, VA, with 453,402 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Warrenton, VA, with 10,217 in 2023.

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