2026 Compare Cities Economy:
Smithfield, VA vs Richmond, VA

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Highlights
- Household income in Richmond, is 41% less than it is in Smithfield and is 26% below the National Average.
- Smithfield unemployment rate is 4.6%.
- Richmond unemployment rate is 7.1%.
 Smithfield, VARichmond, VAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock7.1%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.8%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.3%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes6.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock5.8%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$45,842  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$54,795$69,021
 Family Median Income$111,944  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Smithfield, VARichmond, VAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock14.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K2.5%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.1%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K6.7%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K4.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock9.3%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K8.9%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock11.7%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K12.3%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.5%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Smithfield, VARichmond, VAUnited States
 Management, business, finance20.0%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock7.1%6.5%
 Community, social services0.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.9%1.2%
 Education, library5.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.2%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology7.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.2%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement2.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.9%5.4%
 Building maintenance5.0%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.1%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support18.4%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair11.5%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.2%13.1%
Reviews for Smithfield    4 Reviews

The entire Isle of Wight area is incredibly racist and a good old boys town. I came to the Hampton Roads area to get away from the racism in the mountains. The areas of  More

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I lived in Smithfield for a few years.not for me.lots of litter,human feces in the phone booth,hot and to Southern for  More

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Over 14 years ago

Smithfield, VA is a bedroom community that has no major industry and has been over developed with houses driving the value of houses down across the entire county. I  More

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Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 5 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 5 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  More

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