Norfolk 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 232,995 people and 80 associated neighborhoods, Norfolk is the fourth largest community in Virginia.

The armed forces are a huge part of the life in Norfolk, employing 8.24% of the workforce. While it is a military town, the civilian sector still plays an important role in the local economy, where the Healthcare and Retail industries employ 14.13% and 11.46% of the civilian workforce, respectively.

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

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.29% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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 that you will notice about Norfolk is that there is a good-sized population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters. Many singles consider Norfolk a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

Norfolk is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

The overall education level of Norfolk citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.17% of adults in Norfolk have at least a bachelor's degree, and the average American community has 21.84%.

The per capita income in Norfolk in 2018 was $35,761, 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 $143,044 for a family of four. However, Norfolk contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

The most common language spoken in Norfolk is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.