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Bars in Virginia

How many bars exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 15 Virginia counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Bars & taverns · Pubs & brewpubs (drinking-focused) · Cocktail & wine bars · Taprooms. Counted together because official statistics use one 722410 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Well below the U.S. rate — 12% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Virginia

Bars

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

0.1

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

1.0

per 10,000 present

State index

12%

vs. U.S.

Residents

4,933,760

in covered counties

Workers

2,234,596

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 15 Virginia counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing bars and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in Virginia

City	County	Bars	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Richmond	Richmond city	13–39	222,029	105,755	0.5	47–97%	Range spans bands
Hampton	Hampton city	6–20	132,860	34,168	0.4	40–93%	Range spans bands
Norfolk	Norfolk city	9–41	233,596	108,525	0.3	31–107%	Range spans bands
Virginia Beach	Virginia Beach city	15–41	456,349	163,508	0.3	28–57%	Well below average
Arlington	Arlington County	8–32	236,745	156,754	0.3	25–76%	Range spans bands
Sterling	Loudoun County	9–57	430,542	191,115	0.2	17–66%	Range spans bands
Alexandria	Alexandria city	3–21	153,467	77,493	0.2	15–67%	Range spans bands
Richmond	Henrico County	5–39	337,830	220,227	0.1	11–64%	Range spans bands
Chesapeake	Chesapeake city	3–17	253,091	99,392	0.1	10–43%	Well below average
Mc Lean	Fairfax County	0–118	1,112,020	681,997	0.0	0–56%	Well below average
Manassas	Prince William County	0–42	501,551	114,472	0.0	0–57%	Well below average
Richmond	Chesterfield County	0–26	373,620	122,211	0.0	0–55%	Well below average
Newport News	Newport News city	0–20	186,870	94,081	0.0	0–68%	Range spans bands
Stafford	Stafford County	0–16	161,536	31,480	0.0	0–45%	Well below average
Fredericksburg	Spotsylvania County	0–12	141,654	33,418	0.0	0–63%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

47%

40%

31%

28%

25%

17%

15%

11%

Most competitors per capita

10%

11%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few bars may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.