City safety & data profile

PetersburgVA

Petersburg, VA is a 32K-resident city in Petersburg city with a median household income of $50,698.

Petersburg city, Virginia. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Petersburg, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Petersburg has a population larger than 66% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $189,000, and 3 hospitals serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-16
32K
Population (place)
Top 34%
By size
$50,698
Median income (place)
$189,000
Median home (place)
21.7%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Petersburg

Petersburg posts a median household income higher than 10% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 3 hospitals serve the Petersburg area.

Bottom 11%
by median income, US cities
3
hospitals in & near Petersburg

Composite score · Petersburg, VA

30/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Violent crime B+
194 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share F
25.4%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Poverty rate F
21.7%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Household income F
$50,698

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Curious how Petersburg stacks up nationwide? See the full tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Petersburg income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$50,698 Bottom 10% higher than 10% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Petersburg $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Population ranking: VA

Population among 102 VA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Virginia Beach is the largest VA city on this list; Great Falls leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Income ranking: VA

Median household income across 102 tracked VA places. Hover a bar for its population rank.

median

What this shows Great Falls leads this pool on median income; Virginia Beach is the population leader instead.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Petersburg, VA beyond the headline numbers

Petersburg sits inside Petersburg city, Virginia, at roughly 37.23°N, -77.40°W. Population 32,477, $50,698 median household income. Median home value $189,000, median rent $1,174. Poverty rate 21.7%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

3 hospitals in/around Petersburg, 2/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 58.8°F annual average, 47" precipitation.

Among the CDC measures on this page, stroke departs furthest from its peer median: 5.6% in Petersburg, the highest-prevalence quarter of the 3,759 cities reporting that measure.

9.8% unemployment puts Petersburg in the toughest quarter of reporting cities for job availability.

3.7% of Petersburg workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

21.7% of Petersburg, VA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

Median rent in Petersburg, VA runs $1,174/month, below the midpoint for reporting cities.

25.4% of Petersburg adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, below the midpoint of reporting cities.

Remote work covers 10% of Petersburg workers, under the midpoint for reporting cities.

The median home in Petersburg costs roughly 3.7 times median household income, below the midpoint for reporting cities, so ownership remains reachable on a typical local wage.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Petersburg from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Petersburg city): Petersburg's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
34K+4%
Median Income
$50,698+47%
Median Home Value
$189,000+54%
Poverty Rate
21.7%-19%
Unemployment
9.8%-40%

The Economic Picture

What stands out most about Petersburg's economic profile: poverty rate at 21.7%, 75% above the average across tracked places. Median household income runs 43% below average too, at $50,698.

Economics indicators for Petersburg, VA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,174/mo
Poverty Rate
21.7% +75% vs avg
Unemployment 9.8%
Bachelor's Degree+ 25.4%
Work From Home 10%
Public Transit 3.7%

By the Numbers

White 15.2%
African American 76.5%
Asian 1.3%
Two or More Ethnicities 0.5%

Health Snapshot 15 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
48.7%
High Blood Pressure
46.5%
Obesity
46.3%
Physical Inactivity
34.3%
Frequent Mental Distress
19.7%
Diabetes
19.4%
Current Smoking
17.6%
Frequent Physical Distress
16.5%
Current Asthma
13%
Lack of Health Insurance
12%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 54.3%
Annual Checkup 82.4%

Other Measures

Binge Drinking
11.3%
Coronary Heart Disease
7.7%
Stroke
5.6%

Local Hospitals 3 total

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
1
★
0
Average Rating
2/5
Total Hospitals
3
With ER
1
BON SECOURS SOUTHSIDE MEDICAL CENTER
PETERSBURG · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★☆☆☆

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
59°F
Annual Rainfall
47.0"
Hot Months (>80°F)
4
Cold Months (<40°F)
1
49°
28°
Jan
3.0"
52°
29°
Feb
2.7"
60°
36°
Mar
4.4"
70°
46°
Apr
3.6"
78°
55°
May
4.4"
86°
64°
Jun
4.2"
89°
69°
Jul
4.7"
87°
67°
Aug
5.3"
82°
61°
Sep
4.6"
72°
48°
Oct
3.4"
62°
37°
Nov
3.2"
53°
31°
Dec
3.5"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
97.9 Regional Price Parity

2.1% below national average

US avg
97.9

Metro area: Richmond, VA (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
39
Claims filed
$1.7M
Total paid out
AE
Most common flood zone

Since 2016, NFIP has paid out $1.7M across 39 flood insurance claims filed in Petersburg city.

Hurricane Elsa alone generated 3 of those claims, the county's largest named flood event in this record.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Petersburg?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Petersburg right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet VA-PETERSBURG · Petersburg

Petersburg: 3 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.

  • VOL-TRACE 3 on record
  • WX-LED 100% weather
  • DESK-MIX NOAA
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Los Angeles

Tagged alert mix: Petersburg

Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag

Value

What this shows 3 tagged notices on record for Petersburg.

Source Areazine publication corpus As of Live tagged feed

Nearest tagged-volume peer: Los Angeles, CA (3 tagged · Δ0)

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Petersburg; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Virginia state hubs · Methodology

Cities with a similar tagged alert volume 4

Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (3 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.

Los Angeles, CA 3 alerts San Antonio, TX 3 alerts Austin, TX 3 alerts Oklahoma City, OK 3 alerts

Read with this city profile

Understanding Weather Alerts

Watch vs warning vs advisory, how NOAA labels map to action
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 9

What is the population of Petersburg, VA? ▼
Petersburg, VA has a population of 32,477 people, located in Petersburg city, Virginia.
What is the median household income in Petersburg? ▼
The median household income in Petersburg, VA is $50,698 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 21.7%.
What is the median home value in Petersburg? ▼
The median home value in Petersburg, VA is $189,000. Median rent is $1,174/month.
What are the top health concerns in Petersburg? ▼
The top health indicators in Petersburg include Short Sleep Duration (48.7%), High Blood Pressure (46.5%), Obesity (46.3%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Petersburg? ▼
Petersburg has 3 hospitals with an average rating of 2/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Petersburg? ▼
The median age in Petersburg, VA is 35.8 years. 25.4% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Petersburg? ▼
Petersburg has an average annual temperature of 58.8°F and 47" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Petersburg? ▼
The regional price parity for Petersburg is 97.858, meaning prices are 2.1% below the national average.
Has Petersburg had flood insurance claims? ▼
Petersburg city, Virginia has recorded 39 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $1.7M in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Comparable cities by poverty or income, nationwide 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Petersburg, both outside Virginia so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside VA (21.7% here).

Clovis, NM 21.7% Lauderdale Lakes, FL 21.7% Dolton, IL 21.7% Coalinga, CA 21.7%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside VA ($50,698 here).

Fort Madison, IA $50,705 Troy, AL $50,717 Jasmine Estates, FL $50,718 Scranton, PA $50,739

Compare Petersburg with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Cities Close By 8

Colonial Heights, VA 18K Chester, VA 21K Hopewell, VA 22K Meadowbrook, VA 18K Brandermill, VA 13K Highland Springs, VA 16K Richmond, VA 227K Bon Air, VA 16K
All cities in Virginia → Compare Petersburg vs Colonial Heights → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Next steps for Petersburg

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Petersburg area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare Petersburg against Virginia peers on any ranking lens. Explore Virginia

U.S. Census ACS supplies the place-level population and economics figures (income, home value, poverty, education); CDC PLACES supplies health; hospital counts reflect nearby facilities. County-level trends carry their own label.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Petersburg city) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.