Newport News is a relatively large coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 184,306 people and 47 associated neighborhoods, Newport News is the sixth largest community in Virginia.

There are many members of the armed forces living in Newport News. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.

Also of interest is that Newport News has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Newport News telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 7.48% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

One thing noticeable about Newport News, although not a huge city, is that it has a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. That’s because Newport News is full of single people in their 20s and 30s and who have undergraduate or graduate degrees and are starting careers in professional occupations. This makes Newport News a pretty good place for young, educated career starters looking to find many people like themselves, with good opportunities for friendships, socializing, romance, and fun.

One of the nice things about Newport News is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

The percentage of people in Newport News who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 28.68% of adults in Newport News have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Newport News in 2022 was $36,135, which is middle income relative to Virginia, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $144,540 for a family of four. However, Newport News contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Newport News is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Newport News home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Newport News residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Newport News include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Newport News is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and German/Yiddish.