Newport News, Virginia
Cost of living, housing, income, commute, climate, and safety — compiled for relocators researching Newport News.
Key figures
Each metric shows how Newport News compares with the U.S. baseline (ACS/BLS nationals where available; catalog-city averages for crime, climate, and commute). Income, housing, population, and crime are for the incorporated city (city limits), not the broader metro/MSA — unemployment is county-level (BLS LAUS).
- Population
- 184,774City limits · not metro/MSA
- Median household income
- $66,718Incorporated place (ACS)15% below U.S. avgU.S. $78,538
- Housing cost index
- 88ACS home+rent vs U.S. (100 = avg)12% below U.S. avgU.S. 100
- Median home value
- $243,300City limits (ACS)20% below U.S. avgU.S. $303,400
- Median rent
- $1,285City limits (ACS)Near U.S. avg ($1,348)U.S. $1,348
- Unemployment
- 4.0%County LAUS · not city-onlyNear U.S. avg (4.2 pts)U.S. 4.2 pts
- Avg commute
- 24 minNear U.S. avg (25 min)U.S. 25 min
- Walk Score
- 3229% below U.S. avgU.S. 45
- Violent crime rate
- 595.5annualized per 100k · citywideNear U.S. avg (602.7)U.S. 602.7
- Property crime rate
- 2528.8annualized per 100k · citywide18% below U.S. avgU.S. 3084.9
- Summer high
- 87°FNear U.S. avg (87°F)U.S. 87°F
- Winter low
- 32°F2.0°F below U.S. avgU.S. 34°F
- Annual rainfall
- 45.1 in37% above U.S. avgU.S. 32.9 in
- Sunny days
- 23611% below U.S. avgU.S. 266
Compare Newport News with another city
Newport News (pop. 184,774) sits in Virginia. Median household income is roughly $66,718, while the ACS housing-cost index sits near 88 — below the national housing-cost baseline (100 ≈ U.S. average). Ownership is a high bar — typical values near $243,300 push many newcomers toward renting first.
Newport News is compact enough that a single wrong neighborhood choice is easy to feel day to day — visit at commute hour before signing. Figures on this page are merged from Census ACS, BLS LAUS, FBI Crime Data Explorer, and NOAA Climate Normals — use them to compare Newport News with nearby alternatives before you relocate.
Federal-contractor suburbs and Atlantic coastal towns pull different budgets. The normals show about 45.1 inches of rain and 236 sunny days across a typical year. Plan on roughly 24 minutes each way for a typical commute; Walk Score is about 32. Unemployment recently ran near 4.0%, broadly in line with many large U.S. counties. Violent-offense rates near 595.5 per 100k sit in a mid-to-elevated band versus many peer cities in this catalog.
Nearby & similar cities
Continue researching with these internal links — each page is a full data profile.
Sources
- Census / ACS: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 5-year (Newport News city, 1600000US5156000)
- BLS: BLS LAUS LAUCN517000000000003 (Newport News city, May 2026)
- Crime: FBI CIUS Table 8 (2019) city offenses known to law enforcement — rates per 100k; CDE API unavailable at enrich time
- Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 Monthly Normals (USW00093741 NEWPORT NEWS INTL AP)
Last updated 2026-07-28