Virginia cities

The best places to live in Virginia

Virginia's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Brambleton leads the list.

We scored Virginia's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
4 Arlington $755,800 $2,094 51 80
25 Alexandria $579,100 $1,848 37 62
52 Chesapeake $291,700 $1,328 49 48
64 Virginia Beach $295,900 $1,433 47 36
67 Hampton $191,000 $1,159 46 35
80 Newport News $204,900 $1,118 35 26
83 Roanoke $140,600 $845 46 23
86 Portsmouth $182,700 $1,116 37 22
89 Norfolk $223,300 $1,114 22 18
90 Richmond $263,000 $1,132 15 16

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Virginia. Updated 2026.