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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Portsmouth, VA
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Portsmouth profile


Living in Portsmouth



Portsmouth is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 97,029 people and 31 constituent neighborhoods, Portsmouth is the 11th largest community in Virginia.

There are quite a few people in the armed forces living in Portsmouth, and when you visit or drive around town, you will see military people in and out of uniform, shopping, enjoying life, and being part of the community.

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

One of the nice things about Portsmouth is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

The percentage of adults in Portsmouth who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 20.98% of the adults in Portsmouth have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Portsmouth in 2018 was $28,520, which is middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $114,080 for a family of four. However, Portsmouth contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Portsmouth is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Portsmouth home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Portsmouth residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Portsmouth include English, Irish, German, African, and Italian.

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