Cape Charles is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 1,288 people and two associated neighborhoods, Cape Charles is the 271st largest community in Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Cape Charles was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Cape Charles economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Cape Charles, where the median household income is $51,250.00.

Cape Charles home prices are not only among the most expensive in Virginia, but Cape Charles real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Also of interest is that Cape Charles has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 17.81% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Another notable thing is that Cape Charles is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.

Cape Charles is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 19.05 minutes getting to work every day.

Being a small town, Cape Charles does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or graduate degree? If so, you may feel right at home in Cape Charles. 57.86% of adults here have a 4-year degree or graduate degree, whereas the national average for all cities and towns is just 21.84%.

The per capita income in Cape Charles in 2022 was $62,314, which is wealthy relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $249,256 for a family of four. However, Cape Charles contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Cape Charles is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Cape Charles home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cape Charles residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Cape Charles also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.95% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Cape Charles include German, Irish, English, Italian, and Scots-Irish.

The most common language spoken in Cape Charles is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and German/Yiddish.