Groundwork

Food and drink · Metro area · Virginia

Pizza places in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area

How the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for pizza places: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 47 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #218 of 387 scored metro areas
#6 of 9 scored metro areas based in Virginia

Listings
522
316 chain locations (61%)
Official establishments
1,694
All limited-service restaurants · +5.7% since 2019
Household spending a year
$2.8B
On food away from home · $4,014 a household
Spending per listing
$5.4M
7% above the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
7.4
7% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
1,797,213
+0.9% since 2020

See the pizza places around any address in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area

The site report maps the pizza places on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

At $4,014 per household (in line with the U.S. average), households in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area spend about $2.8B a year on food away from home. That is about $5.4M of household spending for each pizza place on map listings, 7% above the U.S. figure of $5.1M. The spending figure covers all food away from home, not only pizza places.

There are 522 pizza places on map listings in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 61% of them, against 58% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 7.4, 7% below the U.S. rate of 8.0.

In 2023, official counts showed 1,694 businesses with payroll in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area classed as limited-service restaurants, up 5.7% from 2019. That is one for every 418 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. That count covers all limited-service restaurants (fast food and sandwich shops included), not only pizza places. Official counts also show 268 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 40 SBA-backed loans worth $19.2M have gone to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +0.9%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area scores 47 (lower middle) on the Groundwork market score for pizza places, ranking #218 of 387 scored metro areas and #6 of 9 scored metro areas based in Virginia.

How the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area compares

The same measures for Virginia and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all food away from home by the pizza places counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Pizza in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area compared with Virginia and the U.S.
MeasureVirginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro areaVirginiaU.S.
Listings per 10k households7.47.58.0
Spending per listing$5.4M$5.8M$5.1M
Households per official establishment (all limited-service restaurants)418471478
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023+5.7%+3.6%+6.1%
Population growth, 2020–2025+0.9%+2.8%+3.1%
Spending per household on food away from home$4,014$4,372$4,070
Median household income$82,330$93,170$80,734
Groundwork market score4759

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
1,694All limited-service restaurants · +5.7% over the period
Employees, 2023
32,127
Annual payroll, 2023
$587.2M
One-person businesses, 2023
268All limited-service restaurants with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
522316 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
559The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
40
Amount
$19.2M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as limited-service restaurants in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3. These official figures cover all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places.

Population and households in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
1,797,213+0.9% since 2020
Households
707,408
Median age
39.1
Homes lived in by their owners
63%
Vehicles per household
1.8
Land area
3,202 sq. mi.
People per square mile
558
Median household income
$82,330
Average household income
$108,120
Median home value
$340,900
Jobs located here
729,464
Daytime population
1,773,219Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the pizza places on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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The highest-scoring metro areas in Virginia for pizza places, numbered among those based in Virginia (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Virginia

Metro areas in Virginia ranked for pizza places by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Richmond, VA773346.3$6.7M+5.5%#20 of 387
2Charlottesville, VA73637.0$6.3M+3.1%#43 of 387
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV691,5816.7$7.7M+3.3%#61 of 387
3Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA58387.3$5M+3.2%#126 of 387
4Winchester, VA-WV56539.5$4.2M+6.5%#149 of 387
5Harrisonburg, VA48367.2$5.2M+3.5%#212 of 387
6Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC475227.4$5.4M+0.9%#218 of 387
7Roanoke, VA411189.0$4M+0.4%#263 of 387
8Lynchburg, VA39989.5$3.7M+2.9%#278 of 387
Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA281219.2$3.6M+2.3%#348 of 387

Other business types in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many pizza places are in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area?

As of September 2026, map listings count 522 pizza places in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area. 316 of them (61%) are chain locations. The listings count pizza restaurants. Official counts show 1,694 businesses with payroll classed as limited-service restaurants in 2023, up 5.7% from 2019. The official count takes in all limited-service restaurants, not only pizza places: fast food and sandwich shops are counted too. Another 268 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area spend on food away from home?

About $2.8B a year, or $4,014 per household. That is in line with the U.S. average (an index of 99, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 522 pizza places on map listings, it comes to $5.4M per pizza place. That spending covers all food away from home, which pizza places share with other businesses in the trade. It is estimated from the incomes of the 707,408 households in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area compare with the U.S. for pizza places?

The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area has 7.4 pizza places per 10,000 households, 7% below the U.S. rate of 8.0. Spending per pizza place is $5.4M, 7% above the U.S. figure of $5.1M. At the U.S. ratio of pizza places to household spending, the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area would have about 559, against 522 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 418 households, against one for every 478 across the U.S. The official count rose 5.7% from 2019 to 2023, against +6.1% for the U.S.

How fast is the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area at 1,797,213 people in 2025, up 0.9% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 707,408 households. Median household income in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area is $82,330, 2% above the U.S. median of $80,734.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area scores 47 for pizza places (lower middle), #218 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area. It maps the pizza places on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for pizza places · All 56 business types in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.