Newport News

Newport News, which is located in Virginia, U.S. and contained within the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, is an independent city with a population of approximately 183,500.

The city’s economy is heavily driven by the military due to the Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding, and a number of other military suppliers and bases in the area. Because of its location at Hampton Roads harbor and along the northern side of the James River, a large boating industry is able to take full advantage of the numerous miles of waterfront.

The city has 69 square miles of land and 51 square miles of water.

What to See and Do in Newport News

The Mariners’ Museum

The Mariners’ Museum, located at 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, is a museum dedicated to the history of boating with a particular emphasis on British and North American shipping affairs.

Virginia Living Museum

For those with a penchant for Mother Nature, the Virginia Living Museum at 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd, Newport News makes for a fine venue to visit. There you can witness loggerhead turtles, endangered red wolves, frogs that change color, fish with no eyes, stingrays, flying squirrels, to name but a few of the huge variety of animal species to be seen at this establishment.

Getting Around

There are three airports that serve the city. Located within Newport News is the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. The Norfolk International Airport is in the city of Norfolk and the Richmond/ Byrd International Airport is situated at Richmond, VA.

There are four trains each day served by Amtrak which run west to Richmond and beyond.

Connecting bus services run from Newport News to Virginia Beach and Norfolk and buses within the city and to other surrounding major cities is provided by Hampton Roads Transit. Williamsburg Area Transport provides local bus services which travel to York County, Williamsburg, and James City County.

Employment

The city’s major industries include shipbuilding, the military, as well as aerospace. Among the largest employers are Newport News Shipbuilding, which employs more than 15,000 people, Fort Eustis, which currently provides employment to more than 10,000 people, together with Newport News School System which has created over 5,000 jobs.

Education

Newport News Public Schools acts as the main provider of both primary and secondary education in the city. There are 32 elementary schools administered by the body in addition to eight middle schools and five high schools.

There are a number of private schools in the city, including Hampton Roads Academy, Denbigh Baptist Christian School, Warwick River Christian School, Trinity Lutheran School, and Peninsula Catholic High School.

Newport News also plays host to four public universities – Christopher Newport University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, and The College of William and Mary. Hampton University, which resides a few miles from the city center, is the only private university in the area.

Cost of Living and Crime

The cost of living in general is around 7% higher in Newport News than it is for the remainder of the country. The cost of housing in the city is around 12% higher on average. Violent crime rates are 77% higher than the national average while property crime rates are 25% higher than the national average.

Climate

Newport News has a humid subtropical climate with annual highs of around 90 degrees on average arriving in July and annual lows of 32 degrees on average falling in January. Because of the city’s geographical location which is southerly of the average storm that arises from higher latitudes and northerly of typical major tropical storms including hurricanes, the weather tends to be fair yearround.