city / Southside
Virginia Beach
Coastal recreation across a very large city.
First Landing and False Cape create distinctive coastal options. A beach-centered lifestyle and an easy daily commute are separate tests.
Editorial place sketch · research snapshot, not verified personal suitability.
POPULATION
453,7372025 estimate · Primary source
Population evidenceLOCALITY GDP
$32.88BVirginia Beach · 2024 · current dollars
Economic evidenceSCHOOL-DIVISION DIRECTORY
81Virginia Beach · 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
285.4↓ Below regional avg (313.8) · per 100k
VSP VIBRS evidencePROPERTY CRIME RATE
1810.0↑ Above regional avg (1,674) · 2024
VSP VIBRS evidenceSWORN LAW ENFORCEMENT
820Authorized 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 (Virginia Beach).
SOL COMPOSITE PASS RATE
81.2%↑ At or above regional avg (74.6%)
Serving school division: Virginia Beach
VDOE Quality ProfileON-TIME GRADUATION RATE
94.1%↑ At or above regional avg (90.8%)
Serving school division: Virginia Beach
VDOE Quality ProfileSERVING SCHOOL DIVISION
Virginia Beach55 elementary · 14 middle · 11 high · 0 prekindergarten · 1 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
$383kHigher than regional mean ($329k)
±$3,757 margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceMEDIAN MONTHLY RENT
$1,714Higher than regional mean ($1,381)
±$19 margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceREAL ESTATE TAX RATE
$0.99Higher 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
25african · barbecue · caribbean · chinese · ethiopian · filipino · french · german · greek · hawaiian poke · indian · italian · japanese · korean · latin american · mediterranean · mexican · middle eastern · pan asian · seafood · southern · spanish · thai · vegetarian vegan · vietnamese
Overture Places evidenceINDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS
94620.9 per 10,000 residents
OpenStreetMap cross-checkINDEPENDENT COFFEE ROASTERS
3Lynnhaven Coffee Roasters · Pinup Coffee Co. | Coffee Roaster · Three Ships Coffee Roasters
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
38.0 miDesignated paved greenways and multi-use paths
HRTPO Active TransportationMEAN COMMUTE TIME
23.4 minAt or shorter than regional avg (26.9m)
±0.6 min margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceBROADBAND ADOPTION
94.4%At or above regional adoption (90.5%)
±0.5 pts margin (90% confidence)
Census ACS evidenceRECORDED OPPORTUNITIES
Get to know the place.
First Landing State Park
State park with trails and Chesapeake Bay beach access.
Verify current conditions, permission, and usable access.
First Landing State ParkFalse Cape State Park
Remote coastal park; access rules and seasonal route restrictions matter.
Verify current conditions, permission, and usable access.
False Cape State ParkSentara Princess Anne Hospital
Acute-care hospital in southern Virginia Beach.
Facility presence is not verified personal access.
Sentara Princess Anne HospitalSentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
Hospital in Virginia Beach; specialty, eligibility and travel time require individual checks.
Facility presence is not verified personal access.
Sentara Virginia Beach General HospitalTRADEOFFS & NEXT CHECKS
What to look into.
Seasonal access, parking and distance matter.
The available employer list is selective, not a complete top 10.
Actual housing, routes, school assignment, provider access, taxes, insurance, and parcel risks require address-level verification.
Serving school division
Virginia Beach
55 elementary · 14 middle · 11 high · 0 prekindergarten · 1 charter
ECONOMIC CONTEXT
10 selected major-employer entries
non-comprehensive major-employer selection · 2025
Source says public sector/retail excluded but includes civilian base employment; scope inconsistency flagged. Not the top 10 of all employers.
verified selective 10- Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (civilian)5,020 reported employees
- Sentara Healthcare4,900 reported employees
- Naval Air Station Oceana-Dam Neck (civilian)4,500 reported employees
- GEICO General Insurance3,600 reported employees
- STIHL3,300 reported employees
- Gold Key | PHR Hotels & Resorts2,365 reported employees
- Navy Exchange Service Command1,550 reported employees
- Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay848 reported employees
- LoanCare Servicing Center800 reported employees
- Christian Broadcasting Network721 reported employees
Sources, dates & geographic scope · 18 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: Virginia Beach
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: Virginia Beach
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: Virginia Beach
US Census Bureau · period 2025-07-01 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Population is Vintage 2025; ACS values separately carry 2020-2024 period.
- 10 selected major-employer entries
Virginia Beach Economic Development · period 2025 · reviewed 2026-09-06
Source says public sector/retail excluded but includes civilian base employment; scope inconsistency flagged. Not the top 10 of all employers.
- First Landing State Park
Virginia DCR · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- False Cape State Park
Virginia DCR · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Sentara Princess Anne Hospital
Sentara Health · period 2026-09-06 · reviewed 2026-09-06
- Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital
Sentara Health · 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.