Cities › VA
Virginia Beach
Mayor Bobby Dyer · Republican · in office since Nov. 20, 2018
The Executive Summary
Mayor Bobby Dyer (R) has led Virginia Beach since Nov. 2018; on economic outcomes — the only thing this site scores for mayors — Virginia Beach ranks No. 1 of 21 big cities. On Dyer's watch, unemployment fell 6.5% → 3.2% across 2020–2025. Crime, housing and schools are not in this score, and Virginia Beach runs day-to-day through a city manager, so the record is shared — association, not causation.
| Unemployment 3.2% (2025) | +0.64σ · -11.76%/yr vs peers -11.74%/yr · 2020–2025 (6 pts) |
| Median household income $94,579 (2024 · constant 2024 $) | +0.26σ · +0.53%/yr vs peers +1.07%/yr · 2020–2024 (4 pts) |
| Poverty rate 7.6% (2024) | +1.79σ · -8.27%/yr vs peers -1.76%/yr · 2020–2024 (4 pts) |
| Government form | Council-manager |
Virginia Beach uses a council-manager government, so day-to-day administration runs through an unelected city manager. Read this as the city's record, which the mayor shares.
Sources: unemployment — BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · median household income — Census ACS 1-year, CPI-U deflated · poverty rate — Census ACS 1-year (B17001). Unemployment runs through 2025; income and poverty through 2024. The 2025 unemployment point is an eleven-month average — October 2025 was never collected during the federal shutdown — and it is included and flagged here under the same rule the state pages apply to the same statistic (one statistic, one rulebook, as of v2.6; through v2.5 city pages excluded it instead, and the changelog says so).
Scored on economic outcomes only — unemployment, real median income and poverty. Crime, housing and health are not yet included, so this is a narrower measure than a governor’s. Two denominators. The rank is out of 21 — the mayors with enough scored years to rank. 21 of 50 cities are scored, 0 of those are early reads left unranked, and 29 mayors are not yet scorable. Each σ is measured against all 49 other cities. No 2020 point exists for income or poverty — the Census Bureau never released standard ACS 1-year estimates for 2020, and the gap is not interpolated. That is why a window spanning 2020 carries one point fewer than its span. Government form follows standard reference classifications and was not verified city by city. Methodology
The Rundown
No. 1 of 21 big-city mayors — on economics, and only economics.
Poverty rate. Among the best of the 50 largest cities. 9.6% → 7.6% across 2021–2024.
Unemployment. Among the best of the 50 largest cities. 6.5% → 3.2% across 2020–2025.
Median household income. Better than the typical big city. $94,504 → $94,579 across 2021–2024.
How this is scored: 60% is where Virginia Beach stands against the other 49 largest cities, 40% is which way it moved on Mayor Dyer's watch — the same rule governors get. It covers 3 economic outcomes only: crime, housing and schools are not in this grade, so it is narrower than a governor's. Virginia Beach also runs day-to-day through an unelected city manager, so this record is shared, not the mayor's alone.
Virginia Beach sits in VA, whose governor Abigail Spanberger does not yet hold a ranked statewide record, so there is no state standing to quote beside this page. State outcomes would not be the mayor’s grade in any case — a city is not a state.