Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025

Virginia Beach, VA had the highest unemployed people of 34 cities in 2025, at 7,353. Poquoson, VA had the lowest, at 196. The median was 706. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest7,353Virginia Beach, VA
Lowest196Poquoson, VA
Median70634 cities

All cities, 2025

Virginia Beach, VA: 7,353 personsVirginia Beach, VA7,353Richmond, VA: 4,853 personsRichmond, VA4,853Norfolk, VA: 4,235 personsNorfolk, VA4,235Chesapeake, VA: 4,179 personsChesapeake, VA4,179Newport News, VA: 3,518 personsNewport News, VA3,518Alexandria, VA: 3,109 personsAlexandria, VA3,109Hampton, VA: 2,808 personsHampton, VA2,808Portsmouth, VA: 1,865 personsPortsmouth, VA1,865Suffolk, VA: 1,797 personsSuffolk, VA1,797Roanoke, VA: 1,747 personsRoanoke, VA1,747Lynchburg, VA: 1,595 personsLynchburg, VA1,595Blacksburg, VA: 984 personsBlacksburg, VA984Danville, VA: 974 personsDanville, VA974Harrisonburg, VA: 969 personsHarrisonburg, VA969Leesburg, VA: 862 personsLeesburg, VA862Petersburg, VA: 757 personsPetersburg, VA757Charlottesville, VA: 711 personsCharlottesville, VA711Manassas, VA: 700 personsManassas, VA700Fredericksburg, VA: 585 personsFredericksburg, VA585Winchester, VA: 489 personsWinchester, VA489Hopewell, VA: 462 personsHopewell, VA462Salem, VA: 437 personsSalem, VA437Fairfax, VA: 431 personsFairfax, VA431Herndon, VA: 427 personsHerndon, VA427Staunton, VA: 409 personsStaunton, VA409Radford, VA: 403 personsRadford, VA403Waynesboro, VA: 376 personsWaynesboro, VA376Williamsburg, VA: 352 personsWilliamsburg, VA352Colonial Heights, VA: 316 personsColonial Heights, VA316Martinsville, VA: 314 personsMartinsville, VA314Manassas Park, VA: 302 personsManassas Park, VA302Falls Church, VA: 285 personsFalls Church, VA285Bristol, VA: 280 personsBristol, VA280Poquoson, VA: 196 personsPoquoson, VA196
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
persons
Change on 2024
1Virginia Beach, VA7,353+12.3%
2Richmond, VA4,853+12.5%
3Norfolk, VA4,235+13.5%
4Chesapeake, VA4,179+13.1%
5Newport News, VA3,518+13.5%
6Alexandria, VA3,109+26.5%
7Hampton, VA2,808+15%
8Portsmouth, VA1,865+10.6%
9Suffolk, VA1,797+17.1%
10Roanoke, VA1,747+8.8%
11Lynchburg, VA1,595+10.5%
12Blacksburg, VA984+16.6%
13Danville, VA974+4.2%
14Harrisonburg, VA969+10.6%
15Leesburg, VA862+17%
16Petersburg, VA757-0.1%
17Charlottesville, VA711+14.5%
18Manassas, VA700+15.3%
19Fredericksburg, VA585+15.2%
20Winchester, VA489+8.7%
21Hopewell, VA462+5.2%
22Salem, VA437+12.3%
23Fairfax, VA431+23.5%
24Herndon, VA427+18.6%
25Staunton, VA409+12.1%
26Radford, VA403+21.4%
27Waynesboro, VA376+11.9%
28Williamsburg, VA352+16.9%
29Colonial Heights, VA316+7.1%
30Martinsville, VA314+12.5%
31Manassas Park, VA302+20.3%
32Falls Church, VA285+39.7%
33Bristol, VA280+3.7%
34Poquoson, VA196+14%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average. 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. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_virginia_by_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Virginia by unemployed people, 2025
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.CurrentU25-29
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/virginia-cities.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Virginia Beach, VA, with 7,353 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Poquoson, VA, with 196 in 2025.

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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Virginia: more rankings