List of cities in Virginia

See also: List of United States counties and county-equivalents

Virginia counties and cities by year of establishment.

This is a complete list of cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.

Since 1871, all cities in Virginia have been independent cities, which are administratively independent of any county. As of 2014, there are 38 independent cities, which are considered county-equivalents for census purposes. Many towns are as large as cities, but are not incorporated as cities and are situated within a parent county or counties. Eight independent cities—including Bedford, which gave up its city charter in 2013 and became a town—had 2010 populations of less than 10,000 with the smallest, Norton, having a population of only 3958. In 2010, the largest towns were Blacksburg (with 42,620 people) and Leesburg (42,616). Four other towns also had populations of over 10,000 people. For a complete list of these towns, see List of towns in Virginia. For major unincorporated population centers, see List of unincorporated towns in Virginia.

Virginia's independent cities were classified by the Virginia General Assembly in 1871 as cities of the first class and cities of the second class. The Virginia Constitution of 1902 included defined first class cities as those having a population of 10,000 or more based upon the last census enumeration while second class cities were those that had a population of less than 10,000. Cities which previously been granted a city charter, but did not have the requisite population, had their status grandfathered in. Second class did not have a court of record and were required to share the cost of that court with their adjacent county and also shared the cost for three constitutional officers of that court—generally, the clerk, commonwealth attorney and sheriff—and those shared officers stood for election in both the city and the county. At least two constitutional officers—treasurer and commissioner of the revenue—were required to be elected solely by the residents of the city. The distinction between first and second class cities was ended with the Virginia Constitution of 1971. However, cities that were classified as second class cities at the time of the adoption of the 1971 Virginia Constitution were authorized to continue sharing their court system and three constitutional officers with the adjacent county. As of 2003, 14 of Virginia's independent cities retain these features.

Top 10 most populated cities in Virginia (2010).

Virginia counties and cities by population density (population/ square mile) in 2015.

Virginia counties and cities by population in 2010.

Virginia counties and cities by by population change from 2000 to 2010, in percentage.

Pop. rank	Independent City	Population in 2010
1	Virginia Beach	447,021
2	Norfolk	245,782
3	Chesapeake	228,417
4	Richmond	210,309
5	Newport News	180,726
6	Alexandria	146,294
7	Hampton	136,836
8	Roanoke	97,469
9	Portsmouth	96,470
10	Suffolk	85,181
11	Lynchburg	77,113
12	Harrisonburg	50,981
13	Charlottesville	43,956
14	Danville	42,996
15	Manassas	40,605
16	Petersburg	31,973
17	Fredericksburg	27,307
18	Winchester	26,881
19	Salem	24,970
20	Staunton	23,921
21	Fairfax	23,461
22	Hopewell	22,348
23	Waynesboro	21,107
24	Bristol	17,662
25	Colonial Heights	17,479
26	Radford	16,685
27	Manassas Park	15,798
28	Williamsburg	15,167
29	Martinsville	13,733
30	Falls Church	13,229
31	Poquoson	12,097
32	Franklin	8,528
33	Lexington	6,998
34	Galax	6,908
35	Buena Vista	6,707
36	Covington	5,771
37	Emporia	5,740
38	Norton	4,068

External links

• Functions of Counties, Cities and Towns
• List of Former Second Class Cities in Virginia
• Virginia Commission on Local Government