County Portsmouth city, Virginia - Population, Income & Demographics

The median income of households in Portsmouth city, Virginia was $58,972. An estimated 7.9% of households had income below $10,000 a year and 4.4% had income of $200,000 or more.

An estimated 75.5% of households received earnings. An estimated 31.4% of households received Social Security and an estimated 26.2 % of households received retirement income other than Social Security. The average income from Social Security was $19,572. These income sources are not mutually exclusive; that is, some households received income from more than one source.

In 2019-2023, 17.6 % of people were in poverty. An estimated 24% of children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 14.9% of people 65 years old and over. An estimated 15.8% of people 18 to 64 years were below the poverty level.

In 2019-2023, 19.2 % of households received SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). An estimated 54.2% of households that received SNAP had children under 18, and 32.2% of households that received SNAP had one or more people 60 years and over. An estimated 50.1% of all households receiving SNAP were families with a female householder and no spouse present.

Among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in Portsmouth city, Virginia in 2019-2023, 93.4% had health insurance coverage and 6.6% did not have health insurance coverage. Private coverage was 62.6% and public coverage was 47.4%, respectively. The percentage of children under the age of 19 with no health insurance coverage was 3.8%.

In 2019-2023, Portsmouth city, Virginia had a total population of 97,299 - 50,595 (52%) females and 46,704 (48%) males. The median age was 35.8 years. An estimated 23.2% of the population was under 18 years, 36.6% was 19 to 44 years, 22.8% was 45 to 64 years, and 15.2 % was 65 years and older.

In 2019-2023, there were 39,678 households in Portsmouth city, Virginia. The average household size was 2.38 people.

Married-couple households made up 33.4% of the households in Portsmouth city, Virginia while cohabiting couple households made up 7.3% of households. Female householders with no spouse or partner present were 38% of all households, while 21.4% of households had male householders with no spouse or partner present. Some households had one person, as 15.2% of households were male householders living alone, and 17.6% were female householders living alone, for a total of 32.8% of all households.

In Portsmouth city, Virginia, 31.4% of all households had one or more people under the age of 18; 29.6% of all households had one or more people 65 years and over.

In 2019-2023, an estimated 97% of the people living in Portsmouth city, Virginia were U.S. natives. 64% of the Portsmouth city, Virginia population were living in the state where they were born.

Approximately 3% of Portsmouth city, Virginia residents in 2019-2023 were foreign-born. 54.3% of foreign-born were naturalized U.S. citizens and an estimated 71.1 % entered the country before the year 2010.

Foreign-born residents of Portsmouth city, Virginia come from different parts of the world. The bar graph below displays the percentage of foreign-born from each world region of birth in 2019-2023 for Portsmouth city, Virginia.

Among people at least five years old living in Portsmouth city, Virginia in 2019-2023, 4.7 % spoke a language other than English at home. Spanish was spoken by 2.6% of people at least five years old; 1.6% reported that they did not speak English "very well."

In 2019-2023, 86.3 % of the people at least one year old living in Portsmouth city, Virginia were living in the same house one year earlier.

In 2019-2023, 89.2 % of people 25 years and over had at least graduated from high school and 23.2% had a bachelor's degree or higher. An estimated 10.8% did not complete high school.

The total school enrollment in Portsmouth city, Virginia was 21,902 in 2019-2023. Nursery school enrollment was 1,164 and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 15,481. College or graduate school enrollment was 5,257.

In Portsmouth city, Virginia, among the civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2019-2023, 15.9 % reported a disability. The likelihood of having a disability varied by age - from 3.6% of people under 18 years old, to 15.3% of people 18 to 64 years old, and to 36.9% of those 65 and over.

In Portsmouth city, Virginia, 54 % of the population 16 and over were employed; 37.1% were not currently in the labor force.

An estimated 72.1% of the people employed were private wage and salary workers; 24.3% were federal, state, or local government workers; and 3.5 % were self-employed in their own (not incorporated) business.

In 2019-2023, the civilian employed population 16 years and older in Portsmouth city, Virginia worked in the following industries:

An estimated 73.1% of Portsmouth city, Virginia workers drove to work alone in 2019-2023, and 11.9% carpooled. Among those who commuted to work, it took them on average 23 minutes to get to work.

In 2019-2023, Portsmouth city, Virginia had a total of 43,233 housing units. Of these housing units, 70.3% were single-family houses either not attached to any other structure or attached to one or more structures (commonly referred to as "townhouses" or "row houses"). 29% of the housing units were located in multi-unit structures, or those buildings that contained two or more apartments. 0.6% were mobile homes, while any remaining housing units were classified as "other," which included boats, recreational vehicles, vans, etc.

5.6% of the housing inventory was comprised of houses built since 2010, while 12% of the houses were first built in 1939 or earlier. The median number of rooms in all housing units in Portsmouth city, Virginia was 5.6 rooms, and of these housing units 59.2% had three or more bedrooms.

In 2019-2023, Portsmouth city, Virginia had 39,678 housing units that were occupied or had people living in them, while the remaining 3,555 were vacant. Of the occupied housing units, the percentage of these houses occupied by owners (also known as the homeownership rate) was 56.9% while renters occupied 43.1%. The average household size of owner-occupied houses was 2.38 and in renter-occupied houses it was 2.37.

11.7% of householders of these occupied houses had moved into their house since 2021, while 13% moved into their house in 1989 or earlier. Households without a vehicle available for personal use comprised 11.5% and another 17.5% had three or more vehicles available for use.

The following chart provides the primary fuel used to heat houses in Portsmouth city, Virginia:

In 2019-2023, the median property value for owner-occupied houses in Portsmouth city, Virginia was $229,400.

Of the owner-occupied households, 70.3 % had a mortgage. 29.7% owned their houses "free and clear," that is without a primary mortgage or loan on the house. The median monthly housing costs for owners with a mortgage was $1,669 and for owners without a mortgage it was $650.

For renter-occupied houses, the median gross rent for Portsmouth city, Virginia was $1,266. Gross rent includes the monthly contract rent and any monthly payments made for electricity, gas, water and sewer, and any other fuels to heat the house.