A majority but less than two-thirds of respondents rated the quality of life in the region as excellent or good (62.3%). This is lower than last year (69.3%) and is lower than most previous non-COVID years (ranging from 68% to 71% between 2017-2019). Less than a third rated Hampton Roads’ quality of life as fair (31.4%) and 5.5% rated it as poor.
Consistent with previous years, respondents rated the quality of life in their city and their neighborhood higher than they did for the region. About two-thirds rated the quality of life in their city as good or excellent (66.5%) and 28% rated their city as fair. Only 5% rated their city’s quality of life as poor.
Neighborhood ratings of quality of life were the highest, with 81.6% rating their neighborhood as excellent or good. Only 15.3% rated their neighborhood quality of life as fair and 2.9% rated it as poor.
Respondents varied in their ratings of quality of life in their city, with those living in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake having the largest percentage of excellent and good ratings (84.5% and 83.2%, respectively). About 56% of residents in Hampton and about 60% in Norfolk also rated their city as excellent or good. About half of Suffolk resident rated the quality of their city as good or excellent while well under half of residents in Newport News (44.2%) and Portsmouth (35.1%) rated the quality of life that highly.
Respondents were asked how long they have lived in Hampton Roads. The responses ranged from less than a year to 91 years with an average of 27.6 years. Respondents were also asked if they plan to still live in Hampton Roads five years from now. Most respondents (73.1%) indicated that they still plan to live in the region while 15.5% do not plan to still be living in Hampton Roads in five years and 11.4% were unsure. Those who indicated that they were unsure or do not plan to still live in the region five years from now were asked what city/state they were most likely to move to. Responses were varied but some of the most frequently mentioned locations included: Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland/Washington D.C., another part of Virginia, and even international locations.
Perceptions of the quality of life and the economy in Hampton Roads are clearly related to whether respondents plan to leave or stay in the region over the next five years with those who rate the region as less desirable more likely to leave and those who rate the area more favorably more likely to stay. As described above, the majority of residents surveyed plan to stay in the area. Even among those who rate the region as fair or poor, a majority (62.7%) plan to stay, but a much larger majority, nearly 80%, of those who rate the area as good or excellent plan to stay. In contrast, only 10% of those who rate the area favorably (good or excellent) plan to leave the region in the next five years, while more than twice that percentage (24.9%) who rate the area as poor or fair plan to leave. Interestingly, rating of the quality of life in the region does not appear to affect those who are uncertain of their residence in future, with about 12.4% of those rating the quality of life unfavorably and 10.3% of those rating the area favorably unsure of their future residence.
Results were similar when looking at the economy, with 67.1% of those who rated the economy as fair or poor planning to stay but 82.2% of those who rated it as excellent or good planning to stay. Only 7% of those who rate the economy favorably (good or excellent) plan to leave the region in the next five years, while more than one in five (21.5%) of those who rate the area as poor or fair plan to leave. Those who plan to leave are also younger (39 average age) than those who plan to stay (47.5 average age) and those who are unsure (43.5 average age).
