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- Virginia Beach, Virginia
How walkable is Virginia Beach, Virginia?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Virginia Beach, Virginia has a walkability score of 37 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it car-dependent: most errands require a car. Its center scores 83, and open map data lists fewer everyday places away from the center here, so the score is likely an underestimate. It is the least walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States.
What's within walking distance of the center
607 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Virginia Beach, Virginia. The nearest grocery is about 17 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, schools, books & libraries and culture & entertainment. It is weakest for groceries.
Groceries
- Prise's Food Mart, 20 min
- Farm Fresh, 21 min
Restaurants & bars
- The Beach Bully, 2 min
- Vibrant Shore Brewing Company, 2 min
Shopping
- Wisps Of Willow, 3 min
- Vb Surf Sessions- Surf Shop, 4 min
Coffee
- Three Ships Coffee Roasters, 3 min
- Commune, 5 min
Banks
- Billy Foster, 5 min
- Steve McNulty, 5 min
Parks
- 24th Street Park, 12 min
- Naval Aviation Monument Park, 14 min
Schools
- W.T. Cooke Elementary School, 8 min
- Star of the Sea, 9 min
Books & libraries
- Read Bookstore, 10 min
- Finch Used Books & Gifts, 13 min
Culture & entertainment
- The Dome by Rutter Mills, 3 min
- Atlantic Park, 5 min
Further than usual
- The nearest grocery is 17 minutes from the center on foot, against 5 minutes for the median city ranked.
- The nearest park is 12 minutes from the center on foot, against 4 minutes for the median city ranked.
Measured from the center at 36.8467, -75.9807, the point near Virginia Beach, Virginia's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the center there are about 77 street intersections per km², and blocks average 115 m long. Sparser streets or longer blocks reduce the score by 1%, since they make walks longer than the straight-line distance suggests.
How far walkability reaches
Virginia Beach, Virginia's score of 37 is the average across the 5 km around its center, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 79 within 1 km of the center, 34 from 1 to 3 km out and 27 from 3 to 5 km out. 50 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 27% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the center, so check a specific address on the map.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Virginia Beach, Virginia. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the center. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Center | 83 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 79 | 83% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 34 | 13% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 27 | 21% |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Washington, D.C., United States | 246 km | 79 |
| Raleigh, North Carolina, United States | 267 km | 50 |
| Baltimore, United States | 277 km | 77 |
| Philadelphia, United States | 352 km | 89 |
| New York City, United States | 463 km | 93 |
Questions about walking in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Is Virginia Beach, Virginia a walkable city?
Its center is, but most of the area around it is not. Virginia Beach, Virginia has a walkability score of 37 out of 100 across the 5 km around its center, which makes it car-dependent: most errands require a car. Its center scores 83. Open map data lists fewer everyday places away from the center in some cities, so scores there may be underestimates. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks 58th of 58 cities in the United States and joint 672nd of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in the United States?
New York City is the most walkable of the 58 cities ranked in the United States, with a score of 93. Virginia Beach, Virginia ranks 58th with 37.
How does Virginia Beach, Virginia compare with nearby cities?
Virginia Beach, Virginia is less walkable than its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 37, against Washington, D.C. (79, 246 km away), Raleigh, North Carolina (50, 267 km away) and Baltimore (77, 277 km away).
Which part of Virginia Beach, Virginia is most walkable?
Virginia Beach's most walkable area is its center, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 83. Walkability averages 79 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the west (averaging 53) and falls most to the north-west (9).
Why is Virginia Beach, Virginia's score different from its Walk Score?
Walk Score's city scores average every neighborhood within the city limits, weighted by where people live, so they count outer suburbs that the 5 km around Virginia Beach, Virginia's center leaves out, and they are usually lower. Address by address the two agree closely: across 46 addresses in the United States and Canada, How Walkable's scores were 5.9 points from Walk Score's on average, as the accuracy study at howwalkable.com/accuracy shows.
How is Virginia Beach, Virginia's walkability score calculated?
For Virginia Beach, Virginia it is the average of 41 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 11 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
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