Which Metros Send the Most New Residents to Hampton Roads?

by John Egan
November 23, 2016

The two metro areas that supply the most new residents to the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA, metro area are quite close to home.

From 2010 to 2014, an average of 7,632 people relocated annually from the Washington, DC, metro area to Hampton Roads, making our nation’s capital the No. 1 supplier of new residents to Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News. That’s according to a LawnStarter analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data released in November 2016. Sitting at No. 2 is Richmond, VA, with 5,481 people making the move to Hampton Roads each year during the same period.

Military installations and contractors employ thousands of people in Hampton Roads.
Photo: U.S. Navy

Quality-of-Life Choice

It’s not just thousands of people who are ditching DC for Hampton Roads. Entire companies are doing the same thing.

In May 2016, Automark Solutions, a provider of software for the automotive industry, announced it was shifting its home office from the DC suburb of McLean, VA, to Virginia Beach.

“Not only is Automark Solutions preparing for explosive growth in serving the automotive industry, but we’re excited that our growth enabled us to expand our operations and proudly call Virginia Beach home to our corporate headquarters,” says Ken Lees, vice president of Automark Solutions. “While there were several geographical options that made sense, none provided the quality-of-life benefits that Virginia Beach offers that are very important to our existing employees and hopefully will translate to attracting those we plan to hire in the coming months.”

Hampton Roads is home to more than 1.7 million people.
Photo: Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate

Back-and-Forth Movement

By the way, the yearly back-and-forth exchange of people between the Hampton Roads and DC areas is pretty much a wash. In 2010-14, an average of 7,633 people transplanted themselves from Hampton Roads to DC -- just one more person than made the reverse move.

There is, however, a considerable imbalance between Hampton Roads and Richmond, our analysis shows. In 2010-14, an average of 7,202 residents per year headed for Hampton Roads from Richmond. That means Richmond had an annual surplus vs. Hampton Roads of more than 1,700 new residents.

Here’s our ranking of the 12 metros that fed the most new residents to Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News in 2010-14.

1. Washington, DC

New residents per year from this metro area: 7,632

2. Richmond, VA

New residents per year from this metro area: 5,481

3. New York, NY

New residents per year from this metro area: 3,318

4. Chicago, IL

New residents per year from this metro area: 2,089

5. San Diego, CA

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,930

6. Jacksonville, FL

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,713

7. Charleston, SC

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,686

8. Honolulu, HI

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,539

9. Baltimore, MD

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,428

10. Philadelphia, PA

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,325

11. Atlanta, GA

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,108

12. Charlottesville, VA

New residents per year from this metro area: 1,034

Top Photo: City of Norfolk