Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Virginia

Cities in Virginia by population

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest population of 39 cities in 2024, at 453,763. Warrenton, VA had the lowest, at 10,217. The median was 28,082 and the figure for Virginia was 8.82 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest453,763Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest10,217Warrenton, VA
Median28,08239 cities
Virginia8,819,642History

All cities, 2024

Virginia Beach, VA: 453,763 personsVirginia Beach, VA453,763Chesapeake, VA: 254,770 personsChesapeake, VA254,770Richmond, VA: 234,807 personsRichmond, VA234,807Norfolk, VA: 231,105 personsNorfolk, VA231,105Newport News, VA: 183,401 personsNewport News, VA183,401Alexandria, VA: 159,367 personsAlexandria, VA159,367Hampton, VA: 137,399 personsHampton, VA137,399Suffolk, VA: 103,007 personsSuffolk, VA103,007Roanoke, VA: 98,690 personsRoanoke, VA98,690Portsmouth, VA: 96,845 personsPortsmouth, VA96,845Lynchburg, VA: 80,316 personsLynchburg, VA80,316Harrisonburg, VA: 50,792 personsHarrisonburg, VA50,792Leesburg, VA: 49,848 personsLeesburg, VA49,848Blacksburg, VA: 45,218 personsBlacksburg, VA45,218Charlottesville, VA: 44,609 personsCharlottesville, VA44,609Manassas, VA: 44,038 personsManassas, VA44,038Danville, VA: 41,958 personsDanville, VA41,958Petersburg, VA: 34,030 personsPetersburg, VA34,030Fredericksburg, VA: 29,985 personsFredericksburg, VA29,985Winchester, VA: 28,082 personsWinchester, VA28,082Staunton, VA: 26,260 personsStaunton, VA26,260Fairfax, VA: 26,038 personsFairfax, VA26,038Salem, VA: 25,737 personsSalem, VA25,737Herndon, VA: 25,157 personsHerndon, VA25,157Waynesboro, VA: 23,575 personsWaynesboro, VA23,575Hopewell, VA: 23,064 personsHopewell, VA23,064Christiansburg, VA: 22,474 personsChristiansburg, VA22,474Culpeper, VA: 21,719 personsCulpeper, VA21,719Colonial Heights, VA: 18,620 personsColonial Heights, VA18,620Radford, VA: 17,239 personsRadford, VA17,239Vienna, VA: 16,583 personsVienna, VA16,583Bristol, VA: 16,454 personsBristol, VA16,454Manassas Park, VA: 16,428 personsManassas Park, VA16,428Williamsburg, VA: 15,944 personsWilliamsburg, VA15,944Front Royal, VA: 15,633 personsFront Royal, VA15,633Falls Church, VA: 15,046 personsFalls Church, VA15,046Martinsville, VA: 13,789 personsMartinsville, VA13,789Poquoson, VA: 12,863 personsPoquoson, VA12,863Warrenton, 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

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Virginia Beach, VA453,763+0.1%
2Chesapeake, VA254,770+0.4%
3Richmond, VA234,807+1.7%
4Norfolk, VA231,105-0.8%
5Newport News, VA183,4010%
6Alexandria, VA159,367+2.3%
7Hampton, VA137,399+0.3%
8Suffolk, VA103,007+2.1%
9Roanoke, VA98,690+1%
10Portsmouth, VA96,845-0.2%
11Lynchburg, VA80,316+0.7%
12Harrisonburg, VA50,792-0.4%
13Leesburg, VA49,848+0.9%
14Blacksburg, VA45,218-0.6%
15Charlottesville, VA44,609-0.5%
16Manassas, VA44,038+2%
17Danville, VA41,958-0.2%
18Petersburg, VA34,030+2.1%
19Fredericksburg, VA29,985+2.8%
20Winchester, VA28,082+0.8%
21Staunton, VA26,260+1.6%
22Fairfax, VA26,038+3.9%
23Salem, VA25,737+0.6%
24Herndon, VA25,157+0.7%
25Waynesboro, VA23,575+1.9%
26Hopewell, VA23,064+0.7%
27Christiansburg, VA22,474-0.3%
28Culpeper, VA21,719+2.7%
29Colonial Heights, VA18,620+1.1%
30Radford, VA17,239+1.6%
31Vienna, VA16,583+1.4%
32Bristol, VA16,454-1.5%
33Manassas Park, VA16,428+0.7%
34Williamsburg, VA15,944-0.6%
35Front Royal, VA15,633+1.2%
36Falls Church, VA15,046+1.6%
37Martinsville, VA13,789+0.5%
38Poquoson, VA12,863+2.1%
39Warrenton, VA10,2170%

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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_virginia_by_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/virginia-cities?period=2024.
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 453,763 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Warrenton, VA, with 10,217 in 2024.

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