Financial Stress · Virginia

Virginia — financial stress by county

The Financial Stress Index (FSI) combines renter cost burden, eviction rate, and debt in collections into a 0–100 score. 130 of 133 Virginia counties have all three inputs and receive a score. The state average FSI across reporting counties is 61.6. Portsmouth, VA has the highest score at 98.

Data note: The eviction rate component draws from the Princeton Eviction Lab's last national county release (2018). Post-pandemic eviction trends are not reflected in these scores — counties with high pre-2020 eviction activity may score differently if updated data were available. Rent burden and debt figures use 2024 ACS and Urban Institute data.

National comparison · Virginia

How does Virginia compare nationally?

Among states with reliable FSI coverage (≥60% of counties scored), Virginia ranks #7 of 36 states. The state average FSI of 61.6 is 17% above the national average FSI of 52.6.

Virginia ranks #6 of 12 in the Southeast by average FSI score.

Top 10 — Most Stressed Counties

Counties in Virginia ranked by FSI score

CountyFSI
1 Portsmouth, VA 98
2 Hampton, VA 95
3 Hopewell, VA 95
4 Norfolk City, VA 95
5 Petersburg, VA 95
6 Franklin, VA 94
7 Newport News, VA 92
8 Emporia, VA 90
9 Richmond City, VA 90
10 Suffolk, VA 90
Source  ·  US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2024 (2020–2024) · Princeton Eviction Lab (through 2018) · Urban Institute Debt in America (2024)  ·  Full FSI methodology →

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Financial stress — compare with other states

Click any state for county-level data and rankings.