County Maps US

Portsmouth city, Virginia

An independent city in Virginia, ranked 23 of 133 by population.

Independent cityFIPS 51740

Within Virginia
Portsmouth city, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Portsmouth city, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
96,777
-1,214 (-1.2%) since 2020
Land area
33.3
square miles. A further 28.7% of the total area is water
Population density
2,906
people per square mile, computed rather than published
Seat
Portsmouth city
Portsmouth city is its own seat.
Established
1752
273 years ago
Largest city
Portsmouth city
Population 96,777.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Portsmouth city with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Portsmouth city, Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 624 by 800 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Portsmouth city ranks

Position among the 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn VirginiaNationally
Population96,77723rd of 133644th of 3,144
Land area33.3 sq mi105th of 1333,112th of 3,144
Population density2,906 per sq mi15th of 13340th of 3,144
Median household income$60,49192nd of 1332,042nd of 3,143

Full data for Portsmouth city

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population96,777Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202097,991Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?97,944Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area33.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area13.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area46.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?2,906 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$60,491American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$246,900American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age35.9American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households40,288American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units43,318American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+48
1,240 births, 1,192 deaths
Net migration
-124
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Portsmouth city

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Chesapeake cityVirginia15 mi255,332
Norfolk cityVirginia8.8 mi231,013
Suffolk cityVirginia5.3 mi104,699
Hampton cityVirginia3.9 mi137,315
Newport News cityVirginia1.6 mi183,230

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia

Open the interactive Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.