Remmie Pittman
REALTOR® & THG Elite Agent
Northern Neck37.4200° N 76.2800° W
Mathews.
8,533 residents across 252 square miles, seated at Mathews.
One of 6 areas our Northern Neck team works.
At a glanceMathews
The publicrecord.
What the county and the census hold on Mathews — quoted, not estimated.
A rural, waterfront county with a genuine 300-year shipbuilding tradition — more than 2,000 vessels were launched from county yards across the 1700s and 1800s, and Mathews produced enough sea captains that Gwynn's Island is said to have sent more to sea in the Second World War than any other Bay community.
Today's economy runs on the same waterfront trades — seafood, aquaculture, boatbuilding — plus a growing tourism base and a real remote-work population drawn by the setting rather than local jobs.
The tax rate rose four cents for FY2026, a reminder that even a county this small and this rural isn't insulated from the region's cost pressures.
- Type
- County
- County seat
- Mathews
- Population (2020)
- 8,533
- Land area
- 252 sq mi
- Communities we cover
- 5
- Established
- 1791
- Real estate tax rate (FY2026)
- $0.60 per $100
Figures from Wikidata, population as of 2020. The tax rate is published by the county and set annually; check the current year before budgeting.
Where it is37.4200° N 76.2800° W
Where isMathews?
The nearest of our other Northern Neck areas is Gloucester, 13 miles off.
35 mi
Central Northern Neck
south-east of center
28 mi
Williamsburg
west
61 mi
Richmond
west
104 mi
Fredericksburg
north-west
Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Getting around.
One state route reaches the county, and the airport is on the Peninsula rather than close by.
Route 198
Runs from US-17 at Glenns east through Dutton, Cobbs Creek and Hudgins to Mathews Court House — the county's one real highway.
Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport
Roughly 20–23 miles away, the nearest commercial option.
Inside the county5 communities
Every communitywe cover.
3 of them have homes on the market today. Each figure is live, and opens that search.
- 0Bohannonnone on the market today
An unincorporated community about 3.5 miles southwest of Mathews Court House.
- 2Cobbs CreekSee the homes
On Route 198, roughly 6.5 miles northwest of the county seat, with just over 1,200 residents.
- 3HudginsSee the homes
An unincorporated community north of Mathews Court House.
- 4Port HaywoodSee the homes
An unincorporated waterfront community on the lower Chesapeake Bay.
- 0Onemonone on the market today
A small unincorporated community; little published about its own history.
Living here6 reasons
The case forMathews.
The figures above read plainly, and what they look like day to day. Where something is a trade-off, it says so.
Space
34 people to the square mile.
Nothing else we work in Northern Neck is more open: of the 6 areas we hold both figures for, Mathews is the least crowded. If room is what you are buying, this end of the market is where it is.
Scale
8,533 people, as of 2020.
The 1st smallest of the 6 Northern Neck areas we hold a count for. Fewer houses change hands here in a year, and that cuts both ways — less to choose from, less to compete with.
The line that matters
Mathews, seated at Mathews.
In Virginia the county sets the rate, runs the school division and maintains the roads — and the lines do not follow the place names, so two houses a mile apart can sit under different rates and different schools.
Built by the water, literally
More than 2,000 vessels launched from Mathews yards.
A 300-year shipbuilding tradition across the 1700s and 1800s left the county with an outsized maritime identity — Gwynn's Island alone reportedly sent more sea captains to serve in the Second World War than any other Chesapeake Bay community.
Two preserved shorelines
Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort protect 105 acres each.
One state-managed, one run by The Nature Conservancy — both on genuinely open Chesapeake Bay frontage rather than a developed shoreline.
Small on purpose
About 800 students, the whole county's school-age population.
Three schools cover Mathews entirely — a scale that keeps the county feeling like a single community rather than a collection of subdivisions.
SchoolsMathews County Public Schools
Schools andcolleges.
About 800 students across three schools, with no college inside the county.
Mathews County Public Schools
One elementary school, one middle school and one high school cover the whole county.
Outdoors3 of them
Where theweekends go.
Two natural area preserves protect real Chesapeake Bay shoreline, under different owners.
Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve
105 acres on the Chesapeake Bay, managed by Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation.
New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve
105 acres, managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Mathews Downtown Historic District
Anchored by the county's 1792–95 Federal courthouse, still standing on Courthouse Square.
On the market38 in Mathews · live
Homes on themarket now.
On the market in Mathews right now.
Live from search.hogangrp.com, refreshed hourly.
All Mathews listingsSearchsearch.hogangrp.com · Live MLS
Homes inMathews.
The search opens already filtered to Mathews — set a price and a bedroom count here and they travel with you.
See matching homes
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Your team1 in Northern Neck
People who livewhere they sell.
The Northern Neck team covers every one of these areas.
Nearby5 more in Northern Neck
The rest ofNorthern Neck.
Same team, same standard, 5 other places — nearest first.
Questions5 answered
What peopleask us.
Asked often enough by people moving to Mathews to be worth answering in writing.
Rural and genuinely maritime — a county with a real 300-year shipbuilding history rather than a manufactured waterfront identity, and small enough that three schools cover it entirely.
$0.60 per $100 of assessed value for FY2026, a four-cent increase adopted in 2025.
Mathews County Public Schools — roughly 800 students across three schools. There is no college inside the county.
Bethel Beach and New Point Comfort natural area preserves for real Chesapeake Bay shoreline, plus a working boatbuilding and seafood culture that's more genuine than staged.
No — Route 17 runs through neighboring Gloucester County. Mathews itself is reached via Route 198, which branches off US-17 at Glenns.
Sources · checked September 14, 2026
Tax rate · Maritime history · Economic development · Bethel Beach preserve · New Point Comfort preserve · Downtown historic district
Thinking of selling
What is your Mathews homeactually worth?
Mike Hogan founded the brokerage on knowing the county rather than the listing. Ask what that means for this street — or take a cash offer from a local investor and skip the showings entirely. Neither route commits you to the other.