English settlers put down roots here in 1607, the same year as Jamestown, and Hampton calls itself the oldest continuous English-speaking settlement in the country. Today it is a city of about 137,000 on the water in Hampton Roads, tied to two big employers: NASA Langley and the military. That shows up in the Virginia Air and Space Science Center, and in Fort Monroe National Monument, a historic fort with a museum and a waterfront setting.
Life here is coastal and easygoing. You can walk the downtown waterfront, take a harbor cruise, spend a day at Buckroe Beach, or eat in Phoebus, the old and lively dining district. Housing costs a little under the national average, though the market is competitive. The honest catch is water. Hampton is very low-lying, so storm surge, hurricanes and tidal flooding are real, and you should never drive through a flooded street. Summers are hot and humid, and car break-ins are the main crime worry.
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- Known as
- Oldest continuous English-speaking settlement in the US; Hampton Roads' historic port; Home of NASA Langley Research Center; Crabtown; Air power and sea power city
- Founded
- 1607 settled (Kecoughtan area, the year Jamestown was founded); 1610 Hampton established; 1849 incorporated as a town; 1908 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Tagalog; Korean; Vietnamese; Arabic
- Airports
- Newport News/Williamsburg International (PHF), about 8 miles northwest; Norfolk International (ORF), about 20 miles southeast; Richmond International (RIC), about 70 miles northwest
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink or 18-20% of tab; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; tour guides 10-20%; counter service optional
About this data
Population 137,315 and land area 51.46 sq mi from Census QuickFacts (Vintage 2025); median value and rent from Census ACS 2020-2024; Redfin Aug 2026; crime FBI 2024 via AreaVibes. Metro figure 1,797,213 is the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News MSA as supplied; shared with Virginia Beach and Norfolk, and Hampton is not the anchor. Elevation, coordinates, founding, event names and months (some not verified as current), hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, airport distances and 1BR rent are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified. Official URLs found via search but not load-tested.
