?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Pick an HQ · Virginia

Best cities to put your HQ in Virginia

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Pick an HQ” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Richmond, VA229k residents

    63/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 45.6% · avg. weekly wage: $1,680/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  2. 2.Tysons, VA29k residents

    62/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 79.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,540/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  3. 3.Chesapeake, VA253k residents

    61/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 36.9% · avg. weekly wage: $1,161/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  4. 4.South Riding, VA34k residents

    61/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 68.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,540/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  5. 5.Short Pump, VA29k residents

    61/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 75.1% · avg. weekly wage: $1,540/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  6. 6.Virginia Beach, VA456k residents

    60/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 40.9% · avg. weekly wage: $1,154/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  7. 7.Fair Oaks, VA36k residents

    60/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 69% · avg. weekly wage: $1,540/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  8. 8.Fairfax, VA25k residents

    60/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 62.4% · avg. weekly wage: $1,345/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  9. 9.McLean, VA50k residents

    59/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 84.3% · avg. weekly wage: $1,540/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

  10. 10.Norfolk, VA234k residents

    58/100

    bachelor's degree or higher: 33.5% · avg. weekly wage: $1,445/wk · corporate income tax: 6%

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is best to put your HQ in Virginia?
Richmond, VA ranks first with a fit score of 63/100, followed by Tysons (62) and Chesapeake (61), using the "Pick an HQ" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on bachelor's degree or higher, avg. weekly wage, corporate income tax, state & local income tax, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.