Portsmouth, VA population, income and ZIP codes

Portsmouth city is a small city in Virginia, with 97,299 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #10 of 688 ranked by population — larger than 98% of them. The median age here is 35.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Portsmouth city earn a median of $58,972 a year, 24.9% below the national figure of $78,538 and 29% below the $82,986 median for the 383 Virginia cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 17.6% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Portsmouth city is valued at $229,400, 24.4% below the national figure and 21% below the $291,300 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,266 a month, 10% below the national figure, or roughly $15,192 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 25.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3.9×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 56.9% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.