Suffolk is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 98,537 people and 36 associated neighborhoods, Suffolk is the 13th largest community in Virginia. Much of the housing stock in Suffolk was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Suffolk economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Suffolk, where the median household income is $87,758.00.

There are many members of the armed forces living in Suffolk. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.

Also of interest is that Suffolk 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: 7.94% 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.

Suffolk 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.

In Suffolk, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 30.85 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.

The education level of Suffolk citizens is substantially higher than the typical US community, as 32.08% of adults in Suffolk have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Suffolk in 2022 was $44,004, which is upper middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $176,016 for a family of four. However, Suffolk contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Suffolk is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Suffolk home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Suffolk residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Suffolk include African, English, German, Irish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Suffolk is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.