2025

Counties in Virginia ranked by Black Population

This list ranks the 112 counties in Virginia based on their Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Black population in Virginia

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  • 1
    Fairfax County
    Black population in Fairfax County is 134,011
    10.44% of Fairfax County population is Black
  • 2
    Prince William County
    Black population in Prince William County is 115,702
    20.86% of Prince William County population is Black
  • 3
    Richmond city
    Black population in Richmond city is 103,279
    41.99% of Richmond city population is Black
  • 4
    Norfolk city
    Black population in Norfolk city is 102,695
    40.13% of Norfolk city population is Black
  • 5
    Virginia Beach city
    Black population in Virginia Beach city is 102,577
    20.32% of Virginia Beach city population is Black

List of 112 counties in Virginia by Black Population

View Methodology
Rank by Black Population
County
Black Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total Virginia Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Fairfax County 134,011 10.44% 9.10%
2 Prince William County 115,702 20.86% 7.86%
3 Richmond city 103,279 41.99% 7.02%
4 Norfolk city 102,695 40.13% 6.98%
5 Virginia Beach city 102,577 20.32% 6.97%
6 Newport News city 82,833 40.25% 5.63%
7 Chesapeake city 81,543 29.70% 5.54%
8 74,727 49.32% 5.08%
9 54,897 51.98% 3.73%
10 43,226 41.72% 2.94%
11 41,575 8.69% 2.82%
12 37,460 20.98% 2.54%
13 31,065 29.07% 2.11%
14 26,891 76.64% 1.83%
15 23,683 28.09% 1.61%
16 22,796 50.20% 1.55%
17 13,335 21.50% 0.91%
18 12,702 10.46% 0.86%
19 12,490 35.30% 0.85%
20 11,961 22.79% 0.81%
21 11,808 9.98% 0.80%
22 11,075 43.71% 0.75%
23 10,593 33.75% 0.72%
24 9,702 23.17% 0.66%
25 9,634 26.65% 0.65%
26 9,161 15.65% 0.62%
27 8,966 26.42% 0.61%
28 8,853 54.04% 0.60%
29 8,828 30.75% 0.60%
30 8,659 17.67% 0.59%
31 8,389 14.57% 0.57%
32 7,466 23.37% 0.51%
33 7,462 7.41% 0.51%
34 7,184 31.33% 0.49%
35 6,580 8.11% 0.45%
36 6,563 53.09% 0.45%
37 6,529 44.20% 0.44%
38 6,451 15.47% 0.44%
39 6,388 12.30% 0.43%
40 6,254 37.40% 0.42%
41 6,165 18.71% 0.42%
42 6,155 55.17% 0.42%
43 6,069 31.25% 0.41%
44 5,963 10.02% 0.41%
45 5,881 14.35% 0.40%
46 5,862 33.07% 0.40%
47 5,555 5.60% 0.38%
48 5,144 4.93% 0.35%
49 5,124 8.97% 0.35%
50 5,111 25.46% 0.35%
51 4,477 50.79% 0.30%
52 4,464 14.93% 0.30%
53 4,189 33.17% 0.28%
54 4,177 5.20% 0.28%
55 4,137 36.91% 0.28%
56 4,073 31.23% 0.28%
57 4,025 4.45% 0.27%
58 4,003 61.92% 0.27%
59 3,718 15.03% 0.25%
60 3,697 11.83% 0.25%
61 3,690 13.51% 0.25%
62 3,620 18.94% 0.25%
63 3,248 31.27% 0.22%
64 3,237 27.10% 0.22%
65 3,210 28.69% 0.22%
66 3,137 18.27% 0.21%
67 3,085 16.08% 0.21%
68 2,823 21.49% 0.19%
69 2,774 6.39% 0.19%
70 2,733 13.76% 0.19%
71 2,708 40.48% 0.18%
72 2,688 15.80% 0.18%
73 2,640 27.03% 0.18%
74 2,376 8.94% 0.16%
75 2,321 6.34% 0.16%
76 2,073 9.19% 0.14%
77 2,026 5.82% 0.14%
78 1,880 3.97% 0.13%
79 1,861 4.56% 0.13%
80 1,796 16.04% 0.12%
81 1,751 6.38% 0.12%
82 1,706 9.89% 0.12%
83 1,550 10.40% 0.11%
84 1,468 8.13% 0.10%
85 1,192 3.39% 0.08%
86 1,177 5.04% 0.08%
87 1,152 2.08% 0.08%
88 1,101 6.10% 0.07%
89 1,038 3.57% 0.07%
90 1,015 4.51% 0.07%
91 1,014 6.49% 0.07%
92 928 5.80% 0.06%
93 924 6.08% 0.06%
94 865 5.33% 0.06%
95 859 14.51% 0.06%
96 824 2.72% 0.06%
97 784 3.17% 0.05%
98 589 2.92% 0.04%
99 508 1.70% 0.03%
100 456 2.67% 0.03%
101 451 2.82% 0.03%
102 449 5.53% 0.03%
103 448 5.84% 0.03%
104 428 5.88% 0.03%
105 353 1.36% 0.02%
106 297 1.35% 0.02%
107 290 2.23% 0.02%
108 173 1.23% 0.01%
109 171 2.33% 0.01%
110 95 2.54% 0.01%
111 84 1.65% 0.01%
112 25 1.07% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in Virginia by their Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Black Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Black alone, while others identify as Black along with another race (such as Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Black .
  • We’ve used the “Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Black population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Black alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Black .
  2. % of Total Virginia Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.