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The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ (ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ) has compiled the results from the 16th annual Life in Hampton Roads (LIHR) survey. The purpose of the survey was to gain insight into residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Hampton Roads. A total of 718 web-based surveys were completed between July 7 and July 24, 2025. This year the survey was conducted using a web-based approach. Over two-thirds of respondents rated the quality of life in the region as excellent or good (68.5%). This is higher than last year and is similar to pre-COVID ratings (ranging from 68% to 71% between 2017-2019).

This year’s survey also focused on topics such as: economic issues and housing, flooding, health and caregiving, education and public schools, perceptions of police and cybercrime, and political issues.

• Consistent with previous years, respondents rated the quality of life in their city and their neighborhood higher than they did for the region as a whole. Over two-thirds rated the quality of life in their city as good or excellent (71.4%) and 22.2% rated their city as fair. Only 4.9% rated their city’s quality of life as poor. Neighborhood ratings of quality of life remain the highest, with 77.6% rating their neighborhood as excellent or good. Only 19.3% rated their neighborhood quality of life as fair and 3% rated it as poor.
• More than half (51.3%) of residents described economic conditions in Hampton Roads as good (45.4%) or excellent (5.9%). Eighteen percent (17.8%) of residents reported their and/or their household economic situation as being better than a year ago and nearly half (47.3%) of residents reported their financial situation as being the same as a year ago. Thirty-five percent (34.9%) report it being worse than a year ago.
• Nearly half (48.7%) of Hampton Roads residents believe that housing in their neighborhood is either somewhat unaffordable (34%) or very unaffordable (14.7%) for people with a household income similar to theirs. Across Hampton Roads, 61-81% of all respondents reported moderate to major housing cost burden.
• Hampton Roads residents were asked about their perceptions of their own risks related to flooding. About half of residents reported some risk of severe flooding to their city and 22.2% believe their city is at a high risk. Nearly 40% believe there is some risk to their neighborhood with 14.4% saying theirs will be at high risk over the next 30 years.
• Respondents were asked to rate their general overall health and over half (54.3%) reported their health was good. Sixteen percent (16.2%) of Hampton Roads residents rated their health as excellent and a quarter (25.3%) said their health was fair. Respondents were also asked how difficult or easy it was to obtain the healthcare services they needed within the past 12 months. Forty-three percent of respondents reported they had some level of difficulty. A third (30.2%) said it was moderately difficult, about 10% difficult, and 3.2% very difficult to obtain healthcare services they needed within the past 12 months.
• Residents surveyed were asked to rate the quality of their local public school system and about 10% reported their school system was excellent; another third (35.1%) reported their school system was good. However, 29% rated their local schools as fair and another 18.2% rated it as poor.
• Respondents were asked about their employment and almost half (46.5%) were employed full-time with another 13.7% being employed part-time. There were 36.4% of respondents who reported they were not currently employed. Of those unemployed respondents, 11.5% were reportedly looking for work.
• When it came to working inside or outside of the home, over half of respondents (59.3%) only work outside of the home while over a quarter (29.2%) have hybrid work arrangements. Only 10.8% of respondents work fully remote jobs.
• Respondents were asked about satisfaction with local police and nearly three quarters (70.9%) were either satisfied or very satisfied with their local police. Respondents were also asked to what extent they trust the police and over a quarter (28.3%) reported not trusting the police much (17.5%) or at all (10.8%).
• Political party affiliation among respondents continues to lean substantially toward the Democratic Party with nearly 37% of respondents reporting they generally feel closer to the Democratic Party. Approximately 24 percent identified with the Republican Party.
• Both President Donald Trump and Governor Glenn Youngkin received less than 50 percent job approval. Nearly half of respondents (47.6%) indicated they approved or strongly approved of Youngkin, while only 33.4% indicated that they approved or strongly approved of Trump.
• Survey results for the Gubernatorial and House of Delegates races closely paralleled the actual November election results. The survey indicated that Democrats would win 64% of the two-party vote for governor in the seven cities, and they won 63%. Similarly, the survey indicated that Democrats would win 66% of the two-party vote for the House of Delegates and they won 67% (according to November 10 unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections).