city / Southside
Chesapeake
Room to spread out, connected to the Southside.
Explore a suburban-to-rural spectrum and canal-side outdoor recreation. Compare individual districts rather than treating the entire city as one lifestyle.
Editorial place sketch · research snapshot, not verified personal suitability.
POPULATION
255,3322025 estimate · Primary source
Population evidenceLOCALITY GDP
$15.25BChesapeake · 2024 · current dollars
Economic evidenceSCHOOL-DIVISION DIRECTORY
45Chesapeake · entries as of 2026-09-06
School inventory evidenceGDP and school counts are context—not desirability scores. School counts describe the serving division, not necessarily buildings inside this place.
PUBLIC SAFETY & LAW ENFORCEMENT
Regional benchmark (cities and counties): 314 violent / 1,674 property per 100kVirginia State Police Uniform Crime Reporting / VIBRS (2024). Standardized per-capita exposure rates, not subjective neighborhood reputation.
VIOLENT CRIME RATE
395.2↑ Above regional avg (313.8) · per 100k
VSP VIBRS evidencePROPERTY CRIME RATE
1840.1↑ Above regional avg (1,674) · 2024
VSP VIBRS evidenceSWORN LAW ENFORCEMENT
383Authorized sworn police/sheriff officers
Staffing evidenceSCHOOL DIVISION BENCHMARKS
Regional benchmark (cities and counties): 74.6% SOL · 90.8% GraduationVirginia Department of Education (VDOE) 2023–2024 School Quality Profiles for serving division (Chesapeake).
SOL COMPOSITE PASS RATE
79.4%↑ At or above regional avg (74.6%)
Serving school division: Chesapeake
VDOE Quality ProfileON-TIME GRADUATION RATE
93.2%↑ At or above regional avg (90.8%)
Serving school division: Chesapeake
VDOE Quality ProfileSERVING SCHOOL DIVISION
Chesapeake28 elementary · 10 middle · 7 high · 0 prekindergarten · 0 charter
Directory detailsHOUSING COSTS & LOCAL TAXES
Regional benchmark (cities and counties): $329k home · $1,381 rent · $0.94 taxU.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2020–2024) and Virginia Department of Taxation (TY 2024).
MEDIAN HOME VALUE
$378kHigher than regional mean ($329k)
±$5,621 margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceMEDIAN MONTHLY RENT
$1,586Higher than regional mean ($1,381)
±$39 margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceREAL ESTATE TAX RATE
$1.01Higher than regional avg ($0.94)
Virginia Tax SurveyINDEPENDENT FOOD SCENE
Regional benchmark (cities and counties): 14.4 cuisine groups · 15.8 restaurants per 10kOverture Maps and OpenStreetMap establishment records (2026), chains excluded by brand or name. Counts, not ratings.
DISTINCT CUISINE GROUPS
19barbecue · caribbean · chinese · filipino · hawaiian poke · indian · italian · japanese · korean · latin american · mediterranean · mexican · middle eastern · pan asian · seafood · southern · thai · vegetarian vegan · vietnamese
Overture Places evidenceINDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS
32512.7 per 10,000 residents
OpenStreetMap cross-checkINDEPENDENT COFFEE ROASTERS
025 independent coffee shops; no roastery self-described on its own site
Roaster sites verified 2026-09-08ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION & DAILY COMMUTE
Regional benchmark (cities and counties): 26.9 min commute · 90.5% broadbandHRTPO Regional Active Transportation Network & U.S. Census Bureau commuting data.
MULTI-USE TRAIL MILEAGE
28.5 miDesignated paved greenways and multi-use paths
HRTPO Active TransportationMEAN COMMUTE TIME
25.8 minAt or shorter than regional avg (26.9m)
±0.8 min margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceBROADBAND ADOPTION
92.6%At or above regional adoption (90.5%)
±1.0 pts margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceRECORDED OPPORTUNITIES
Get to know the place.
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
Large protected wetland; select the actual entrance and permitted activity, not the polygon centroid.
Verify current conditions, permission, and usable access.
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife RefugeDismal Swamp Canal Trail
Multi-use canal corridor described by city tourism; do not treat it as a complete utility cycling network.
Verify current conditions, permission, and usable access.
Dismal Swamp Canal TrailChesapeake Regional Medical Center
Hospital at 736 Battlefield Boulevard North, Chesapeake.
Facility presence is not verified personal access.
Chesapeake Regional Medical CenterTRADEOFFS & NEXT CHECKS
What to look into.
A citywide average hides large travel differences.
Check the actual commute, school address and flood exposure.
Actual housing, routes, school assignment, provider access, taxes, insurance, and parcel risks require address-level verification.
Serving school division
Chesapeake
28 elementary · 10 middle · 7 high · 0 prekindergarten · 0 charter
ECONOMIC CONTEXT
Top 10 reported employers
reported locality employment · 2024 Q2
Historical employer reporting entities, not current job openings; no local headcounts supplied.
verified ranked 10- Chesapeake City Public School Board
- City of Chesapeake
- Chesapeake General Hospital
- Walmart
- Amazon Fulfillment Services Inc.
- Dollar Tree Management
- Food Lion
- United Services Automobile Association
- Cox Communications Hampton
- Sentara Healthcare
Sources, dates & geographic scope · 17 records
- HRPDC locality directory
HRPDC · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Regional water supply planning participating localities
HRPDC · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
27-place baseline; updated water planning additionally includes New Kent. Registry is a product scope, not an MSA definition.
- 2024 nominal GDP: Chesapeake
BEA via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · period 2024 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Source units thousands of current US dollars. Stored value converted to USD. Updated 2026-02-05.
- VDOE public-school directory: Chesapeake
Virginia Department of Education · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Manual count of directory entries; category is VDOE-reported. Not all private schools, not enrollment, not distinct buildings, not quality.
- Census QuickFacts: Chesapeake
US Census Bureau · period 2025-07-01 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Population is Vintage 2025; ACS values separately carry 2020-2024 period.
- Top 10 reported employers
Chesapeake Economic Development / QCEW · period 2024 Q2 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Historical employer reporting entities, not current job openings; no local headcounts supplied.
- Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
US Fish & Wildlife Service · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Dismal Swamp Canal Trail
Chesapeake Tourism · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
Chesapeake Regional Healthcare · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Virginia State Police 2024 Crime in Virginia (VIBRS)
Virginia State Police · period 2024 · reviewed 2026-09-07
Incident-based violent and property offense reporting across independent cities, counties, and municipal law enforcement agencies. Values entered manually from the published tables; no archived document hash.
- Virginia Department of Education 2023-2024 School Quality Profiles
Virginia Department of Education · period 2023-2024 · reviewed 2026-09-07
Accreditation benchmarks, composite Standards of Learning (SOL) pass rates, 4-year on-time graduation cohorts, and student growth. Values entered manually from the published tables; no archived document hash.
- Virginia Department of Taxation 2024 Local Tax Rates Survey
Virginia Department of Taxation · period 2024 · reviewed 2026-09-07
Annual compilation of nominal real estate and personal property tax rates per $100 assessed value for all 95 counties, 38 independent cities, and 190 incorporated towns. Read from the TY 2024 PDF (https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/2024-local-tax-rates.pdf, sha256 d5c22251be9c2ea0b58c0dfa771538feb591ac6f7114395e229643a39976499c); text extract archived under data/hampton-roads/tax/raw. Town figures are the county levy plus the town levy.
- HRTPO Regional Active Transportation Network & Multi-Use Trails Inventory
Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization · period 2024 · reviewed 2026-09-08
Off-road paved greenways, multi-use paths, and active transportation corridors across member jurisdictions. Landing page; inventory table not archived. Values entered manually from the published tables; no archived document hash.
- Overture Maps Foundation Places, release 2026-08-19.0 (Hampton Roads extract)
Overture Maps Foundation · period 2026-08 · reviewed 2026-09-08
Open places dataset (ODbL and CDLA-Permissive-2.0). Regional extract archived under data/hampton-roads/food/raw with a content hash. Names, categories, brands and coordinates only; no ratings.
- OpenStreetMap restaurants, cafes and coffee roasters via Overpass (Hampton Roads extract)
OpenStreetMap contributors · period 2026-09 · reviewed 2026-09-08
ODbL. Used for cuisine tags and chain (brand) cross-checks within 150 m of an Overture record. Extract archived with a content hash.
- U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb county-equivalent and incorporated-place boundaries
U.S. Census Bureau · period 2026 · reviewed 2026-09-08
Polygons used to assign each establishment to a city, county or town by point-in-polygon. Public domain.
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates 2020-2024 (detailed tables B25077, B25064, B19013, B08013, B08303, B28002, B25003)
U.S. Census Bureau · period 2020-2024 · reviewed 2026-09-08
Public table-based summary files (no API key). The 27 Hampton Roads rows of each table, the geography rows and the variable definitions are archived under data/hampton-roads/acs/raw with content hashes; margins of error are 90 percent. Medians are published directly; commute, broadband and owner-occupancy are derived from published counts with Census ratio/proportion margin formulas.
Could this be your kind of everyday?
Find my city fitSource snapshot hampton-roads-2026-09-10. This app migration did not re-audit the external research.