The 10 Richest Cities In Virginia For 2023


We analyzed 62 places in Virginia to determine where the 1% live.

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We’re just going to leave this right here: if you’re the 10th oldest state in the county, you better believe you house some crazy rich cities. And, yes, we’re talking about you Virginia.

If you’re looking for safe cities and neighborhoods, amazing schools, and high-end shopping, with a bank account to match, you can stop your search. There are cities in on our top ten tichest cities in Virginia that have these 5-star amenities, and then some. And, yes, they are mainly centralized around Washington D. C.

To create this list, we asked ourselves, what is important to rich people in Virginia? Besides the obvious: high paying jobs, affluent neighborhoods, crazy expensive Southern Colonial homes, Michelin rated restaurants, and more car services than Starbucks; the cities on our list had to cater to the ‘one percent’ on a different level. How does one get their hands on one of these shiny, Virginia pearls; where living your best life requires a boatload of money? Well, a couple of things have to fall into place for you. Well, you need to find a job that pays on average $90,000/year. Might we suggest a job in real estate in our number one richest city? The median home price in this city is over $700,000. You better have deep pockets if you want to live here, folks.

Wealthy people want to live in the best cities, so it’s not lost on us that there are multiple cities on our ten Best Cities to Live in Virginia for 2023 that are also on our richest list. So, pull up a chair, put on your spectacles, and read on to learn about the wealthiest places in Virginia.

Here are the 10 richest places in Virginia for 2023:

  1. Poquoson
  2. Leesburg
  3. Vienna
  4. Herndon
  5. Purcellville
  6. Manassas Park
  7. Warrenton
  8. Alexandria
  9. Falls Church
  10. Fairfax

Did we mention that you either have to win the lottery or be a descendant of one of Virginia’s many notables like Warren Beatty to live in one of the wealthiest cities in the Old Dominion for 2023?

In all seriousness, we narrowed down the richest cities in Virginia by looking at several factors: poverty rate, median household income, unemployment rate. The cities also had to have a population of at least 5,000.

Without further adieu, what’s the one city in Virginia where the cobblestone streets are paved in gold? That would be Poquoson, the richest city in Virginia for 2023.

To see how your city compared, or what cities made the top 10, take look below. And if you don’t see your city there, head to the bottom.

Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Virginia:

The 10 Richest Cities In Virginia For 2023

1. Poquoson

Poquoson, VA

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 12,382
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $112,026
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Poquoson: Real Estate | Photos

2. Leesburg

Leesburg, VA

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 48,223
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 3)
Median Income: $116,350
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Leesburg: Real Estate | Photos

3. Vienna

Vienna, VA

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 16,465
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $200,938
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Vienna: Real Estate | Photos

4. Herndon

Herndon, VA

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 24,574
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $117,741
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 7.3%
More on Herndon: Real Estate | Photos

5. Purcellville

Purcellville, VA

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 8,910
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $140,536
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.5%
More on Purcellville: Real Estate | Photos

6. Manassas Park

Manassas Park, VA

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 17,081
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $90,544
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Manassas Park: Real Estate | Photos

7. Warrenton

Warrenton, VA

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 10,002
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Income: $78,275
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.2%
More on Warrenton: Real Estate | Photos

8. Alexandria

Alexandria, VA

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 158,185
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Median Income: $105,450
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 9.6%
More on Alexandria: Real Estate | Photos

9. Falls Church

Falls Church, VA

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 14,494
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 2)
Median Income: $155,071
Unemployment Rate: 5.1%
Poverty Rate: 2.5%
More on Falls Church: Real Estate | Photos

10. Fairfax

Fairfax, VA

Overall SnackAbility

7.5
/10

Population: 23,980
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 2)
Median Income: $118,492
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 10.1%
More on Fairfax: Real Estate | Photos

Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In Virginia For 2023

Map Of The Richest Places To Live In Virginia
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income
  • Unemployment Rate

Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.

After we collected the data for all 63 places with more than 5,000 people in Virginia, we ranked each place from 1 to 63 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Poquoson, crowned the “Richest City In Virginia For 2023”. You can download the data here.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 63 places.

Summary: The Wealthiest Places In Virginia For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Virginia, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Virginia.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Virginia, according to data:

Poorest: Richlands
2nd Poorest: Emporia
3rd Poorest: Radford

For more Virginia reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Virginia

Rank City RichScore Median Income
1 Poquoson 4.67 $112,026
2 Leesburg 5.0 $116,350
3 Vienna 5.0 $200,938
4 Herndon 7.0 $117,741
5 Purcellville 7.67 $140,536
6 Manassas Park 8.0 $90,544
7 Warrenton 9.67 $78,275
8 Alexandria 10.67 $105,450
9 Falls Church 12.0 $155,071
10 Fairfax 12.67 $118,492
11 Manassas 15.33 $101,934
12 Virginia Beach 15.67 $81,810
13 Culpeper 16.67 $79,572
14 Christiansburg 17.33 $63,934
15 Salem 18.0 $66,472
16 Chesapeake 18.33 $85,563
17 Vinton 20.33 $56,829
18 Smithfield 21.0 $92,913
19 Bluefield 22.33 $57,895
20 Winchester 23.33 $61,321
21 Strasburg 23.33 $52,486
22 Fredericksburg 24.33 $72,293
23 Suffolk 26.33 $81,883
24 Dumfries 27.33 $71,784
25 Colonial Heights 28.33 $65,570
26 Lexington 28.33 $66,114
27 Bridgewater 29.33 $66,847
28 Staunton 32.67 $53,041
29 Hampton 32.67 $59,380
30 Ashland 33.0 $55,521
31 Williamsburg 33.0 $65,297
32 Covington 33.33 $41,242
33 Buena Vista 34.0 $42,156
34 Charlottesville 34.0 $63,470
35 Newport News 34.33 $57,463
36 Abingdon 34.67 $54,384
37 Waynesboro 35.67 $47,238
38 Bristol 36.67 $43,879
39 Orange 39.0 $58,908
40 Pulaski 39.0 $50,410
41 Richmond 41.0 $54,795
42 Front Royal 41.0 $54,731
43 Portsmouth 41.33 $54,020
44 Lynchburg 41.67 $54,015
45 Norfolk 42.0 $56,244
46 Woodstock 44.33 $61,210
47 Blacksburg 44.33 $43,804
48 Marion 44.67 $33,250
49 Big Stone Gap 45.33 $57,431
50 Roanoke 45.33 $48,476
51 Harrisonburg 46.33 $51,055
52 Galax 47.0 $39,808
53 South Boston 47.33 $45,408
54 Farmville 49.0 $35,690
55 Franklin 49.33 $49,424
56 Martinsville 51.33 $36,832
57 Wytheville 51.67 $41,074
58 Petersburg 52.0 $44,890
59 Danville 52.67 $38,904
60 Hopewell 55.67 $44,209
61 Radford 55.67 $44,360
62 Emporia 57.0 $36,111
63 Richlands 60.0 $31,169

How Is The Area In ?

Editor’s Note: Data has been updated for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the richest cities in Virginia.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.