Most cash-strapped cities in Virginia (2026)

Zebra Finance Cash Strain Index · Published 2026-10-25 · Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024

Petersburg is the most cash-strapped city in Virginia on our Cash Strain Index, followed by Hopewell, Bailey's Crossroads. We ranked all 124 Virginia cities with 10,000+ residents on rent burden, low household incomes, poverty and unemployment. New Baltimore ranks as the least strained.

All 124 Virginia cities ranked

Rank	City	Score	Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent	Households under $35k	Poverty rate	Unemployment rate	Rent as % of median income
1	Petersburg	94.2	51.1%	33.7%	21.7%	10.0%	27.8%
2	Hopewell	91.3	53.4%	32.3%	21.8%	9.2%	24.3%
3	Bailey's Crossroads	90.7	60.0%	22.2%	22.5%	8.1%	27.4%
4	Portsmouth	86.8	59.7%	29.6%	17.3%	6.6%	25.8%
5	Danville	85.5	44.6%	41.4%	24.7%	5.6%	22.6%
6	Winchester	84.8	55.4%	26.8%	21.5%	6.4%	24.7%
7	Harrisonburg	83.4	46.4%	28.8%	25.7%	6.9%	22.8%
8	Highland Springs	81.7	50.4%	29.8%	19.0%	5.6%	26.4%
9	East Highland Park	81.0	61.1%	26.1%	12.8%	6.8%	24.5%
10	Richmond	79.6	52.0%	27.7%	18.2%	5.7%	25.5%
11	Norfolk	76.1	54.9%	25.2%	16.5%	5.7%	24.0%
12	Lynchburg	75.8	51.6%	30.4%	18.6%	5.3%	22.2%
13	Hampton	75.7	57.3%	24.1%	12.7%	6.3%	24.6%
14	Charlottesville	74.9	55.5%	25.9%	19.6%	3.7%	24.7%
15	Roanoke	72.4	45.3%	33.0%	18.3%	5.6%	21.6%
16	Sudley	71.4	60.5%	15.7%	10.2%	6.0%	27.2%
17	Woodlawn	69.0	67.3%	13.9%	10.6%	5.7%	23.9%
18	Newport News	68.5	51.1%	24.7%	14.5%	5.8%	23.1%
19	Bristol	68.3	41.2%	35.1%	18.0%	6.3%	19.1%
20	Manchester	68.1	56.5%	18.5%	12.7%	6.4%	23.3%
21	Martinsville	67.5	39.7%	38.3%	23.5%	2.9%	20.8%
22	Springfield	64.8	60.3%	10.9%	8.9%	6.9%	25.3%
23	Hybla Valley	62.9	45.7%	18.9%	9.4%	8.3%	24.2%
24	Cherry Hill	59.3	68.4%	12.3%	8.6%	6.7%	18.9%
25	Laurel	58.5	57.2%	14.8%	8.4%	5.0%	26.3%
26	Meadowbrook	57.4	57.3%	15.3%	12.4%	5.3%	22.1%
27	Groveton	57.2	43.2%	10.1%	13.2%	9.8%	21.4%
28	Fredericksburg	56.1	48.8%	20.8%	13.2%	5.1%	22.6%
29	Bull Run	55.0	46.5%	14.7%	13.7%	4.6%	26.8%
30	Waynesboro	51.0	46.4%	25.3%	11.2%	5.1%	20.4%
31	Annandale	51.0	57.5%	15.0%	12.1%	4.9%	20.0%
32	Triangle	50.7	56.6%	10.8%	7.6%	9.0%	17.0%
33	Suffolk	49.8	57.0%	17.3%	9.4%	5.0%	20.2%
34	Front Royal	49.8	42.4%	22.8%	14.3%	5.0%	21.0%
35	Staunton	49.5	45.6%	25.6%	12.4%	5.3%	18.7%
36	Chesapeake	47.9	57.0%	16.5%	9.4%	4.9%	20.0%
37	Woodbridge	47.1	47.1%	10.7%	9.0%	6.5%	24.1%
38	Salem	44.3	50.8%	22.2%	10.2%	3.6%	20.4%
39	Lorton	43.4	54.7%	6.6%	7.4%	6.5%	22.0%
40	Lakeside	43.1	56.0%	17.9%	11.8%	1.6%	22.7%
41	Virginia Beach	42.8	54.6%	14.6%	8.6%	4.0%	22.1%
42	Madison Heights	42.5	42.6%	27.7%	10.5%	5.2%	17.4%
43	Colonial Heights	41.8	55.5%	21.0%	7.9%	3.6%	19.4%
44	Lincolnia	38.6	51.9%	10.7%	7.7%	5.4%	21.1%
45	Dale City	37.3	55.5%	10.5%	7.0%	5.0%	20.1%
46	Manassas Park	36.6	50.2%	5.7%	5.1%	5.5%	24.9%
47	Forest	35.2	51.6%	16.5%	9.6%	3.5%	19.3%
48	Huntington	35.0	46.6%	10.3%	7.3%	4.2%	24.8%
49	Hollins	34.5	47.1%	23.5%	8.8%	3.4%	18.5%
50	Fair Oaks	33.9	48.2%	9.5%	5.7%	5.7%	22.0%
51	Warrenton	33.4	54.9%	15.7%	9.7%	2.0%	20.4%
52	Fairfax	31.9	51.1%	13.3%	9.1%	3.3%	20.4%
53	Centreville	29.9	51.5%	10.0%	7.2%	4.4%	19.8%
54	Manassas	29.6	52.2%	11.5%	7.7%	3.8%	19.5%
55	Brandermill	29.0	45.6%	13.0%	7.8%	4.6%	19.9%
56	Sterling	28.7	47.0%	12.9%	8.0%	3.7%	20.8%
57	Midlothian	28.4	58.0%	10.8%	3.2%	4.0%	19.2%
58	Poquoson	27.6	66.4%	8.3%	4.5%	3.2%	16.9%
59	Leesylvania	26.3	46.0%	7.3%	4.4%	6.1%	20.7%
60	Fairfax Station	25.8	69.5%	3.5%	1.7%	4.8%	15.8%
61	Bon Air	25.5	46.1%	13.1%	6.7%	3.5%	21.2%
62	Burke Centre	25.0	45.3%	8.2%	5.2%	6.6%	18.4%
63	Christiansburg	24.4	39.0%	22.1%	11.7%	2.4%	18.4%
64	Tuckahoe	23.9	46.1%	14.1%	7.4%	4.2%	18.0%
65	Alexandria	23.9	45.3%	12.0%	7.9%	3.3%	20.9%
66	Chester	23.7	47.6%	14.1%	8.1%	2.5%	20.2%
67	Culpeper	23.5	42.0%	18.2%	12.8%	2.3%	17.9%
68	Tysons	23.0	36.4%	10.4%	7.9%	4.5%	23.1%
69	West Falls Church	21.2	44.6%	8.5%	7.9%	4.9%	18.4%
70	Mechanicsville	21.2	49.0%	15.2%	5.2%	1.9%	21.0%
71	Glen Allen	20.9	39.7%	13.0%	3.6%	3.9%	23.3%
72	Cascades	19.8	56.0%	5.9%	2.9%	3.8%	19.1%
73	Stuarts Draft	17.9	35.5%	21.7%	7.3%	3.2%	18.2%
74	Mount Vernon	17.8	61.3%	8.2%	5.6%	4.1%	11.9%
75	Montclair	17.7	46.5%	5.1%	3.8%	5.8%	18.2%
76	Lake Barcroft	17.0	45.3%	9.8%	5.6%	5.0%	16.4%
77	Falls Church	16.6	43.2%	9.7%	4.0%	5.0%	18.3%
78	Kingstowne	16.1	51.5%	8.6%	4.4%	2.7%	19.1%
79	Arlington	15.7	40.1%	11.4%	7.4%	3.3%	19.6%
80	Ashburn	15.7	50.4%	7.9%	4.0%	3.2%	19.0%
81	Lake Ridge	15.1	42.6%	8.5%	5.8%	4.0%	19.2%
82	Wolf Trap	14.8	62.4%	6.1%	3.1%	2.0%	16.8%
83	Chantilly	14.1	51.4%	6.5%	5.8%	2.9%	17.7%
84	Sugarland Run	13.7	41.1%	6.3%	5.4%	4.5%	19.4%
85	McNair	13.6	41.5%	7.8%	6.1%	2.3%	22.4%
86	Merrifield	13.4	40.9%	8.6%	5.1%	3.3%	20.8%
87	Idylwood	13.3	41.1%	10.7%	5.5%	2.8%	20.4%
88	Leesburg	13.3	48.5%	8.1%	6.6%	2.8%	17.4%
89	Newington Forest	12.6	38.4%	2.8%	3.1%	5.6%	21.1%
90	Gainesville	12.4	54.0%	9.7%	4.0%	2.6%	15.7%
91	Burke	12.1	40.4%	5.1%	3.2%	5.6%	18.7%
92	Cave Spring	11.9	38.6%	16.2%	5.9%	2.9%	17.6%
93	Gloucester Point	11.5	39.4%	11.3%	7.5%	3.4%	17.2%
94	Reston	10.8	35.7%	8.5%	5.7%	5.0%	18.0%
95	Timberlake	10.6	29.4%	18.5%	8.5%	3.4%	17.2%
96	Brambleton	10.5	60.3%	6.2%	3.5%	3.2%	12.5%
97	Dranesville	10.0	52.1%	2.5%	2.8%	3.5%	17.8%
98	Rockwood	9.9	41.7%	7.7%	4.7%	2.2%	21.4%
99	Buckhall	9.2	43.0%	8.0%	6.0%	3.5%	16.5%
100	Vienna	8.7	46.2%	7.9%	5.0%	4.4%	13.2%
101	McLean	8.0	48.7%	9.4%	2.9%	2.3%	16.4%
102	Kings Park West	7.7	40.3%	8.1%	6.2%	2.5%	18.1%
103	Herndon	7.2	30.4%	6.6%	8.1%	4.1%	18.3%
104	Lansdowne	6.1	46.1%	8.3%	3.6%	1.8%	16.8%
105	South Riding	5.8	38.7%	4.3%	3.8%	3.8%	17.7%
106	Fort Hunt	5.4	39.9%	3.6%	2.2%	3.2%	19.4%
107	Linton Hall	4.7	41.3%	2.5%	2.2%	3.8%	17.3%
108	West Springfield	4.4	44.4%	6.3%	1.9%	1.7%	18.1%
109	Rose Hill	3.9	42.1%	4.2%	2.6%	2.7%	17.0%
110	Lake Monticello	3.7	19.3%	7.3%	6.7%	3.0%	22.3%
111	Lowes Island	3.5	43.0%	4.1%	1.6%	3.3%	15.4%
112	Short Pump	3.4	40.9%	8.4%	3.6%	1.7%	16.0%
113	Oakton	2.8	36.4%	6.3%	4.6%	1.9%	17.0%
114	Loudoun Valley Estates	2.4	34.2%	5.6%	4.0%	2.2%	17.3%
115	Franconia	2.4	28.6%	3.9%	2.8%	2.7%	20.5%
116	Newington	2.1	18.5%	5.0%	2.2%	4.1%	21.7%
117	Franklin Farm	1.9	38.8%	2.8%	1.5%	3.4%	14.6%
118	Broadlands	1.8	43.6%	2.8%	1.0%	3.0%	13.4%
119	Wyndham	0.8	39.2%	2.2%	1.2%	3.3%	11.5%
120	Independent Hill	0.7	37.4%	3.1%	1.5%	2.1%	13.4%
121	Stone Ridge	0.7	23.6%	3.4%	1.8%	3.0%	17.6%
122	Great Falls	0.6	23.1%	3.0%	2.2%	3.1%	16.8%
123	Wakefield	0.2	11.3%	2.6%	1.8%	2.9%	17.7%
124	New Baltimore	0.0	7.4%	6.8%	4.1%	1.9%	12.8%

Score = national percentile (100 = more strain than every other ranked U.S. city). See the national ranking, or personal loans in Virginia.

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Methodology

The Cash Strain Index combines five measures of household financial pressure for every U.S. city with 10,000+ residents that has complete data (4,121 cities; college towns with a median age under 25 are excluded because student households distort income measures): the share of renters paying 30% or more of income on rent, the share of households earning under $35,000, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate, and median annual rent as a percentage of median household income. Each measure is standardized (z-score) across all ranked cities and the five are averaged with equal weight. The score shown is a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 means more strain than every other ranked city. The national list ranks cities with 100,000+ residents; state lists rank every city with 10,000+ residents.

Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25070, B19001, B17001, B23025, B25064, B19013). ACS estimates carry margins of error, so small differences between neighboring ranks are not meaningful.

Use this data

Journalists, researchers and bloggers may use these rankings and the CSV with credit and a link to this page (“Zebra Finance Cash Strain Index 2026”). Questions or a custom cut for your city: support@zebrafinance.com.