Alexandria is a larger medium-sized coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 128,283 people and 46 constituent neighborhoods, Alexandria is the eighth largest community in Virginia.

Alexandria is a decidedly white-collar city, with fully 89.36% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Alexandria is a city of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Alexandria who work in management occupations (15.09%), office and administrative support jobs (13.10%), and business and financial occupations (8.65%).

Also of interest is that Alexandria has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Of important note, Alexandria is also a city of artists. Alexandria has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Alexandria's character.

One thing that you will notice about Alexandria is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Alexandria a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

In addition to being popular with young singles, Alexandria is also home to many people who can be described as "urban sophisticates." While both of these categories describe educated professionals, urban sophisticates are quite a different demographic. Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness.' But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

The city is also nautical, which means that parts of Alexandria are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

For the size of the city, public transportation in Alexandria is quite heavily used. Mostly, people who use it for their daily commute are taking the subway. For Alexandria, the benefits are reduced air pollution and congestion on the highways.

Alexandria Information and Demographics

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Alexandria. 54.30% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 14.96%.

The per capita income in Alexandria in 2000 was $37,645, which is wealthy relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $150,580 for a family of four.

Alexandria is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Alexandria home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Alexandria is White, followed by African-American. Alexandria also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 14.61% of the city's residents. Important ancestries of people in Alexandria include Irish, English, German, Italian, and Ethiopian.

Alexandria also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 25.41%.

The most common language spoken in Alexandria is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and African.