Newport News city vs Norfolk city

A side-by-side comparison of Newport News city and Norfolk city: population, income, housing, and more.

Newport News city and Norfolk city are counties in Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Norfolk city has the higher population (235,037 vs 184,774 in Newport News city). Newport News city has the higher median household income ($66,718 vs $64,017 in Norfolk city). Norfolk city has the higher median home value ($271,900 vs $243,300 in Newport News city).

Population, income & housing

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
Population	184,774	235,037
Median age	34.2 yrs	32.4 yrs
Median household income	$66,718	$64,017
Median home value	$243,300	$271,900
Median gross rent	$1,285	$1,246
Housing units	81,850	102,542
Homeownership rate	48.1%	45.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.1%	32.7%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	6.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
Population	179,673 → 184,774 (+2.8%)	244,601 → 235,037 (-3.9%)
Median household income	$53,215 → $66,718 (+25.4%)	$51,590 → $64,017 (+24.1%)
Median home value	$194,000 → $243,300 (+25.4%)	$206,700 → $271,900 (+31.5%)
Median gross rent	$1,057 → $1,285 (+21.6%)	$1,059 → $1,246 (+17.7%)

Newport News city

Population

179,673184,774

Median household income

$53,215$66,718

Median home value

$194,000$243,300

Median gross rent

$1,057$1,285

Norfolk city

Population

244,601235,037

Median household income

$51,590$64,017

Median home value

$206,700$271,900

Median gross rent

$1,059$1,246

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
Under 5	7.0%	6.5%
5 to 17	16.3%	13.9%
18 to 24	11.6%	14.9%
25 to 34	16.5%	18.9%
35 to 44	12.9%	12.5%
45 to 54	10.2%	9.6%
55 to 64	11.8%	11.1%
65 to 74	8.2%	7.9%
75 and over	5.5%	4.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
White (non-Hispanic)	39.8%	41.5%
Black or African American	40.4%	39.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	3.3%	3.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.8%	0.5%
Two or more races	4.9%	5.1%
Hispanic or Latino	10.5%	9.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
No high school diploma	8.2%	10.4%
High school graduate	29.8%	24.9%
Some college or associate's	32.9%	32.1%
Bachelor's degree	17.7%	19.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.4%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
Drove alone	74.3%	71.7%
Carpooled	8.7%	9.4%
Public transit	1.9%	2.8%
Walked	3.6%	5.2%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.6%
Worked from home	9.3%	8.6%
Other means	1.9%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
1-unit, detached	49.6%	48.8%
1-unit, attached	9.5%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	8.1%	13.6%
5 to 19 units	20.7%	16.5%
20 or more units	9.4%	12.6%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Newport News city	Norfolk city
Poverty rate	15.1%	17.3%
Average household size	2.35	2.27
Mean commute (minutes)	23	23
Median year structure built	1979	1964