Poquoson city area

Poquoson city, Virginia covers 78.5 square miles: 15.4 square miles of land and 63.1 square miles of water. An estimated 13,292 people lived there in 2025.

Official Census measurements · GEOID 517352026 Gazetteer · retrieved September 27, 2026
Land area15.4 mi²
Water area63.1 mi²
Population (2025)13,292
People per mi²866

County outline

Generalized outline of Poquoson city, Virginia
2025 Census cartographic boundary, fitted to this frame. County maps are not at a common scale. The 2026 area measurements below come from the separate Gazetteer release. Map source and limitations.

Where Poquoson city is located

Poquoson city highlighted on a map of all U.S. county equivalents. About the maps

Area breakdown

Land accounts for 19.6% of Poquoson city’s measured area and water for 80.4%. Its combined area converts to 203.2 square kilometers or approximately 50,213 acres.

Green: land · blue: water

MeasurementSquare milesSquare kilometersAcres
Land15.35739.7749,828.5
Water63.101163.43140,384.6
Total78.458203.20550,213.1

How Poquoson city compares

By original Census land area, Poquoson city ranks #110 of 133 in Virginia and #3192 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Its land area is 0.05 times the Virginia county-equivalent median of 310 square miles. It accounts for 0% of the combined county land area in the state.

See the complete Virginia ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?

Population and density of Poquoson city

The Census Bureau estimates that 13,292 people lived in Poquoson city on July 1, 2025. That ranks #2,276 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #105 of 133 in Virginia. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 12,455, the population has grown by 837 (+6.7%), compared with +2.9% for Virginia as a whole.

With 15.4 square miles of land, that is 866 people per square mile (334 per km²), placing Poquoson city #212 nationally for density and #39 in Virginia. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Virginia median is 109. Put another way, there are about 0.739 acres of land per resident.

Estimated population, 2020–2025 · line scaled to this county’s own range
July 1202020212022202320242025
Estimate12,47212,62812,61712,60212,86313,292
Change—+156−11−15+261+429

U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.

Cities and towns in Poquoson city

Every resident of Poquoson city lives within Poquoson city. The city and the county equivalent cover the same territory, 15.4 square miles of land in the 2026 place Gazetteer, so there are no separate towns or unincorporated areas to list.

Metropolitan area

Poquoson city is a central county of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 18 county equivalents have 1,797,213 residents on 3,201.9 square miles of land; Poquoson city accounts for 0.5% of the land and 0.7% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #96 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #38 by population. It belongs to the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area.

County equivalentPopulation 2025Land mi²
Virginia Beach city453,737244.7
Chesapeake city255,332338.5
Norfolk city231,01353.3
Newport News city183,23069
Hampton city137,31551.5
Suffolk city104,699399.2
Portsmouth city96,77733.3
James City County83,326142.3
York County71,374104.7
Isle of Wight County41,321315.7
Gloucester County40,097217.8
Currituck CountyNorth Carolina33,158261.9
Williamsburg city15,8618.9
Poquoson city13,29215.4
Camden CountyNorth Carolina11,315240.3
Gates CountyNorth Carolina10,234340.6
Mathews County8,52985.9
Surry County6,603278.9

ZIP codes

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area has land in Poquoson city, and it lies mostly inside the county.

23662

ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.

Counties bordering Poquoson city

Poquoson city shares a land border with 2 county equivalents. Each of them has more land than Poquoson city. The largest neighbor is York County (104.7 mi²) and the smallest is Hampton city (51.5 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Poquoson city forms a block of 171.5 mi² of land, of which it holds 9%.

Map of Poquoson city and the 2 county equivalents that border it Hampton city, Virginia: 51.5 mi² landYork County, Virginia: 104.7 mi² land
Poquoson city (dark) and its bordering county equivalents. Select a neighbor to open its profile. Drawn from the 2025 Census cartographic boundaries in an equal-area projection. How borders are determined.
Bordering county equivalentLand mi²Size vs. Poquoson cityCompare
York County104.76.8× largerCompare
Hampton city51.53.4× largerCompare

How big is Poquoson city compared with U.S. states?

Poquoson city has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 67 times as much. Virginia’s county land could hold about 2,571 areas the size of Poquoson city.

Land area: Poquoson city and the closest-sized states
Poquoson city15.4 mi²
Rhode Island1,033.9 mi²

Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 3.92 miles (6.3 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.

State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.

What stands out about Poquoson city?

Poquoson city has more land than 30 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.

Land area compared with the typical county equivalent
Poquoson city15.4 mi²
Virginia median310 mi²
National median604.5 mi²

A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.

Does including water change its rank?

Using land plus water places Poquoson city at #3,121 nationally by total area, 71 places closer to the top than its land rank. The water assigned to this geography moves it ahead of some county equivalents with more land.

Its water share is 80.4%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 79.3 percentage points higher. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.

Closest positions in the national land ranking

These entries sit immediately beside Poquoson city in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Land rankCounty equivalentLand mi²Comparison
#3191Harrisonburg city, Virginia17.3Compare
#3192Poquoson city, Virginia15.4This county
#3193Florida Municipio, Puerto Rico15.2Compare

Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.

Representative coordinates

The Census internal point is 37.128360, -76.303534. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.

Source and precision

U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 39,773,691 m²; AWATER: 163,429,842 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.

Download the official county source ZIP ↗ · Methodology

Common questions

How big is Poquoson city?

Poquoson city, Virginia has 15.4 square miles (39.8 km²) of land and 63.1 square miles of water, for a total area of 78.5 square miles. It ranks #3192 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.

Is Poquoson city the largest county in Virginia?

No. Poquoson city ranks #110 of 133 in Virginia by land area. The largest is Pittsylvania County, with 969 square miles of land.

What counties border Poquoson city?

Poquoson city shares a land border with Hampton city and York County.

What is the population of Poquoson city?

The Census Bureau estimates Poquoson city had 13,292 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #2,276 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 866 people per square mile of land.

Is Poquoson city part of a metropolitan area?

Yes. It is a central county of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 18 county equivalents and 1,797,213 residents.

How many ZIP codes are in Poquoson city?

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area has land in Poquoson city, and 1 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.

How does Poquoson city compare with U.S. states?

It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 67.3 times as much land.

How many acres of land are in Poquoson city?

The land measurement converts to approximately 9,828 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 50,213 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.

Why might another source show a different area?

Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.

Can this establish a property boundary?

No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.

Cite this county

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