Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area — Elections 1876–2024

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+10%. Democratic peak: D+70 in 1912.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: D+10MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: BellwetherAkashic typology
Population: 1,787,2352024 5-year
Median household income: $84,8692024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 54.1%2024 5-year
Black: 29.6%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 8.0%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+70 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+32 in 1972MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

18 counties · 9 D · 9 R

R+60

D+60

One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.

38 presidential elections

Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	D	+10.2%	473,080	384,121	871,283
2020	D	+13.4%	486,096	369,160	873,133
2016	D	+7.7%	401,992	341,373	788,866
2012	D	+10.9%	432,280	346,194	789,774
2008	D	+11.0%	434,701	347,764	789,706
2004	R	−6.9%	306,346	351,901	662,698
2000	R	−2.0%	267,239	278,592	558,295
1996	D	+4.8%	240,500	216,837	494,816
1992	R	−2.6%	216,794	230,599	529,152
1988	R	−18.0%	184,991	267,187	456,135
1984	R	−21.4%	174,929	270,554	447,891
1980	R	−2.5%	173,163	182,721	378,892
1976	D	+8.7%	183,417	153,138	348,568
1972	R	−31.5%	84,855	166,112	257,832
1968	D	+3.8%	103,533	92,605	286,897
1964	D	+22.8%	100,094	62,827	163,790
1960	D	+10.8%	79,862	64,270	145,033
1956	R	−5.6%	57,071	64,096	126,055
1952	D	+4.2%	55,011	50,571	105,887
1948	D	+27.4%	40,097	21,502	67,765
1944	D	+48.4%	46,021	15,958	62,117
1940	D	+62.2%	41,839	9,700	51,698
1936	D	+63.0%	42,196	9,506	51,922
1932	D	+42.2%	32,976	13,173	46,891
1928	R	−10.7%	21,181	26,258	47,439
1924	D	+44.4%	18,095	6,430	26,252
1920	D	+42.4%	21,644	8,666	30,636
1916	D	+55.1%	14,476	4,074	18,875
1912	D	+69.8%	13,460	1,465	17,187
1908	D	+42.2%	11,197	4,516	15,836
1904	D	+49.8%	11,449	3,752	15,452
1900	D	+19.7%	20,525	13,743	34,510
1896	D	+7.2%	17,408	15,049	32,933
1892	D	+14.5%	20,595	15,149	37,510
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

English

11.4%

German

9.2%

Irish

8.7%

American

7.5%

Italian

4.1%

Scottish

1.6%

Polish

1.4%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.

Age distribution by sex

Median age: 37.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.6%

85+

1.0%

2.0%

75–84

2.8%

4.4%

65–74

5.2%

6.0%

55–64

6.6%

5.3%

45–54

5.8%

6.7%

35–44

6.9%

7.5%

25–34

7.2%

5.2%

18–24

4.6%

8.2%

5–17

7.9%

3.1%

2.9%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$84,869

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC ranks near the middle of US counties.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC$84,869

Virginia$93,170

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

10.9%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1815.0%

Working age (18–64)9.7%

Seniors (65+)10.4%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

90.5%

speak English only

Spanish4.2%

Asian & Pacific Islander2.7%

Other Indo-European1.9%

Other languages0.6%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Other Christian

13.9%

Baptist

9.2%

Catholic & Orthodox

8.6%

Methodist

4.6%

Mainline Protestant

3.0%

Pentecostal & Holiness

2.1%

Non-Christian

1.8%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

The Hampton Roads metro's outsized active-duty and veteran population anchors a distinct electoral calculus, while fast-growing exurban corridors in Chesapeake and Suffolk have steadily shifted the region's partisan margins over successive cycles.

The Democratic margin in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC has rarely exceeded seventy points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded thirty-two points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by ten points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 54% non-Hispanic-white share, a 11% poverty rate, and a median household income of $84,869 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/47260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia vote in 2024?

In 2024, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia voted Democratic by 10.2 points (D+10), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 871,283 votes cast, 473,080 went Democratic and 384,121 went Republican.

What is Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 25 times, Republican 9 times, and other 0 times.

When did Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia last vote Republican?

The most recent presidential election in which Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia voted Republican was 2004.

How many people live in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia?

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia has a population of 1,787,235 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia?

Median household income in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia is $84,869 — above the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.

What is the political history of Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 25 went Democratic and 9 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC delivered D+10 in 2024.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions