City · Poquoson city, Virginia

Poquoson, Virginia

Poquoson is a city in Poquoson city, Virginia, part of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area. It has 12,639 residents. Poquoson, Virginia has a quality-of-life score of 84 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,513 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Virginia it ranks #136 of 375 cities and towns. It ranks best on traffic deaths (low), math scores (high) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and job growth (low).

84Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,513 of 15,651 cities and towns
Virginia: #136 of 375 in VA
Population: 12,639 (2020-2024)
Land area: 15 mi²
Density: 823.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 5163768

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety73#4,254/15,637
Economy82#2,813/15,631
Housing47#7,975/14,977
Health79#3,331/15,609
Healthcare79#3,291/15,650
Environment67#5,039/15,453
Education95#728/15,649
Infrastructure77#3,649/15,650
Community82#2,771/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,561/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Poquoson, Virginia ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Poquoson city value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Traffic deaths · low1.6 /100k
100/100Virginia 10.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataPoquoson city value
Math scores · high3.85
100/100Virginia 3.27United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePoquoson city value
Reading scores · high3.67
100/100Virginia 3.16United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePoquoson city value
Mammography screening · high62.0%
99/100Virginia 47.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePoquoson city value
Voter turnout · high84.6%
99/100Virginia 70.7%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionPoquoson city value
Child care cost burden · low17.8%
98/100Virginia 24.4%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePoquoson city value

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Virginia 6.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyPoquoson city value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Virginia 1.6 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPoquoson city value
Job growth · low-3.9%
4/100Virginia -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataPoquoson city value
Grocery stores · low0.8 /10k
6/100Virginia 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPoquoson city value
Average weekly wage · low$914
7/100Virginia $1,540United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPoquoson city value
Social associations · low5.5 /10k
9/100Virginia 11.1 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePoquoson city value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedImproving
1.5 /1k (2021) → 5.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+271%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
42.3% (2015-2019) → 66.4% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
26.6% (2015-2019) → 36.7% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
86.8% (2015-2019) → 95.7% (2020-2024)
+8.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
42.2% (2015-2019) → 36.3% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$97,118 (2015-2019) → $120,972 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Poquoson, Virginia improved on 2 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Broadband+8.9 points86.8% → 95.7%
Household income+25%$97,118 → $120,972

Declined2

Bachelor's+−6 points42.2% → 36.3%
Rent / income+10 points26.6% → 36.7%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Poquoson, Virginia between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	24.7 min2015-2019	27.2 min2020-2024	+2.5 min	Within the margin of error	23%
Bachelor's degree or higher	42.2%2015-2019	36.3%2020-2024	−6 points	Declined	5%
Broadband subscriptions	86.8%2015-2019	95.7%2020-2024	+8.9 points	Improved	54%
Child poverty rate	9.4%2015-2019	6.8%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Effective property tax rate	1.00%2015-2019	0.90%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	36%
High school diploma or higher	94.9%2015-2019	97.5%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Home price to income ratio	3.3×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3912015-2019	0.3732020-2024	−0.018	Within the margin of error	66%
Median household income	$97,1182015-2019	$120,9722020-2024	+25%	Improved	43%
Poverty rate	5.6%2015-2019	4.5%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	26.6%2015-2019	36.7%2020-2024	+10 points	Declined	9%
Rent-burdened households	42.3%2015-2019	66.4%2020-2024	+24 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Unemployment rate	2.0%2015-2019	3.2%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.6%2015-2019	2.8%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	56%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Poquoson, Virginia five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Poquoson, Virginia in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Poquoson, Virginia itself moved −8.9 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

12,639 residents

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,728 households (±108)

Poquoson, Virginia
Virginia share

Under $25k6.1%†289
$25k–50k8.1%†384
$50k–75k14%

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,728 households (±108)

Poquoson, Virginia
Virginia share

Own85%4,000
Rent15%728

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

6,403 workers (±288)

Poquoson, Virginia
Virginia share

Drive alone80%5,095
Carpool7.2%†463
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Poquoson city, the county holding most of Poquoson's residents.

Poquoson city has 223 employer establishments, 177 for every 10,000 residents (0.71× the US rate of 248; 0.73× Virginia's), with 1,285 paid employees at an average annual pay of $36,094. The Census Bureau also counts 886 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 223; 886 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 177; US 248 · Virginia 241
Paid employees: 1,285
Average annual pay: $36,094; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Poquoson city by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	30	23.8	1.54×More than typical	138	$50,043	61
Restaurants and other eating places	23	18.3	0.99×About typical	276	$22,638	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	21	16.7	2.47×More than typical	111	$33,225	40
Construction of buildings	16	12.7	1.68×More than typical	41	$61,951	21
Lessors of real estate	15	11.9	0.97×About typical	22	$57,091	110
Landscaping services	14	11.1	3.17×More than typical	47	$35,574	21
Building equipment contractors	13	10.3	1.71×More than typical	75	$51,507	9
Full-service restaurants	13	10.3	1.34×More than typical	135	$26,726	—
Ambulatory health care services	12	9.5	0.46×Fewer than typical	60	$78,433	32
Limited-service restaurants	10	7.9	0.99×About typical	141	$18,723	—
Building finishing contractors	9	7.1	1.88×Too few to compare	21	$46,714	21
Personal care services	8	6.3	1.33×Too few to compare	31	$24,548	32

Rank places for an industry Open Poquoson city

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 12,602 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $557.5K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Poquoson, Virginia: $44.11 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $557.5K; −9.2% vs FY2025
Per resident: $44.11; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 12%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Acquisition Service$279.5K50%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$80.2K14%
Department of the Army$47.4K8.5%
Department of Veterans Affairs$47.2K8.5%
National Institute of Standards and Technology$34.8K6.2%
Agricultural Research Service$28.5K5.1%
Food and Drug Administration$21.4K3.8%
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center$12.3K2.2%

Top recipients

THE OFFICE GROUP INC$557.5K100%
WESTON SOLUTIONS INC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

2.4MFY2017
2.6MFY2018
5MFY2019
1.9MFY2020
6.7MFY2021
7.4MFY2022
1.3MFY2023
-7.9MFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Hardware manufacturing · 3325$387.5K70%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$170K30%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Poquoson, Virginia

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION SERVICES AND FIVE-YEAR REVIEW PLUM TREE ISLAND RANGE FORMERLY USED DEFENSE SITE POQUOSON, VA$1.2M
WESTON SOLUTIONS INC· Poquoson city, VA· Facilities & utilities· Sep 27, 2021 – Dec 12, 2025· W912DR21F0396
IAW GSAR 538.7102-2(D)(2) (GSA CD RFO-2025-FSS-GSAR 538) F&R LASER MARKING MACHINE & ACCESSORIES$126.5K
THE OFFICE GROUP INC· Poquoson city, VA· Other equipment & supplies· Jul 22, 2026 – Jul 22, 2026· 47QSSC26FAYGC
DISK, ABRASIVE, ALUMINUM OXIDE, MEDIUM (150) GRIT, REINFORCED WEB CONSTRUCTION, PLAIN FLAT, NO ARBOR HOLE, FUNCTIONALLY COMPATIBLE WITH HOOK & LOOP QUICK CHANGE STYLE MECHANICAL FEATURE BACK-UP PADS, 3.00 INCH DIAMETER$87.3K
THE OFFICE GROUP INC· Poquoson city, VA· Other equipment & supplies· Jun 16, 2026 – Jun 16, 2026· 47QSWA26F1D9Z

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Poquoson, Virginia, so they do not add up across cities.

Poquoson, Virginia's figures are part of those of Poquoson city, VA ($557.5K in FY2026), never added to them: 100% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Poquoson is mostly in Poquoson city.

See federal money in Poquoson city

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Poquoson, Virginia is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Robert J. WittmanR-VA-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 2.5%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Poquoson city85100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC69

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5163768

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends