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Richmond37.2129° N 77.4004° W

City of Petersburg.

An independent Virginia city — 33,458 residents across 23 square miles.

One of 12 areas our Richmond team works.

At a glanceRichmond market

The publicrecord.

What the county and the census hold on City of Petersburg — quoted, not estimated.

An independent city on the Appomattox, 23 miles south of Richmond, where I-95 and I-85 meet — I-85 ends here. Outside the county system entirely: Petersburg sets its own rate and runs its own schools.

The history is the draw and the burden. A fur-trading post from the mid-1600s, then a tobacco town, then the site of the longest siege on American soil — 292 days and more than 70,000 casualties.

The present is industrial. A pharmaceutical cluster has grown up near I-95 and US-460 around AMPAC Fine Chemicals, Civica Rx and Phlow, and in November 2024 the city voted for a $1.4 billion casino resort with more than 80% in favour — the widest margin of any Virginia casino referendum.

City of Petersburg, Virginia
Type
Independent city
Population (2020)
33,458
Land area
23 sq mi
Established
1748
Real estate tax rate
$1.27 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 is37.2129° N 77.4004° W

Where isCity of Petersburg?

2 of our other Richmond areas sit within ten miles of here, City of Colonial Heights the closest.

  • 20 mi

    Central Richmond

    south of center

  • 35 mi

    Williamsburg

    east

  • 67 mi

    Northern Neck

    north-east

  • 85 mi

    Charlottesville

    north-west

Distances are straight-line, not driving.

Getting around.

Petersburg is a road junction before it is anything else, and that is most of why it exists.

  • I-95 and I-85

    Both run through the city, and I-85 reaches its northern end here at a trumpet interchange with I-95 south of downtown.

  • I-295

    Under half a mile out, carrying traffic around Richmond without entering it.

  • US-1, US-301 and US-460

    The older routes, still the way across the city and out towards the pharmaceutical plants east of town.

  • Richmond International Airport

    Roughly 24 miles north at Sandston. CSX and Norfolk Southern both run freight through the city.

Living here6 reasons

The case forCity of Petersburg.

The figures above read plainly, and what they look like day to day. Where something is a trade-off, it says so.

  • Space

    1,455 people to the square mile.

    City of Petersburg is the 3rd densest of the 12 Richmond areas we hold both figures for. Things are close together here, which is the trade: less land, less driving.

  • Scale

    33,458 people, as of 2020.

    The 5th largest of the 12 Richmond areas we hold a count for — big enough for a steady market without being the busiest one.

  • The line that matters

    City of Petersburg answers to no county.

    In Virginia an independent city sits outside the county system entirely: it sets its own rate, runs its own schools, maintains its own roads. Comparing a bill here against one across the line is not comparing like with like.

  • The building stock

    Old Towne is 190 acres of it.

    Around 250 buildings, and not a preserved village — railroad buildings, factories, tobacco warehouses and an ironworks sit in the low ground near the river, which is what the city was built to do. Blandford Church, from 1734, is the oldest building standing.

  • The trade

    Virginia's cheapest doorway, and the reasons why.

    Median home value runs about $189,000 against a state figure roughly twice that, and the city assessor put the July 2025 median sale at $234,950, up 9% on the year. The rate is the other half of that maths: $1.27 per $100 is the highest of the three cities in this market.

  • Getting out

    Two interstates and a third within a mile.

    I-95 and I-85 both meet downtown and I-295 is barely off it, which is why the pharmaceutical plants chose the ground they did. Richmond is 23 miles up the road and Washington 125.

Public record for City of Petersburg
SchoolsCity of Petersburg County Public Schools

Schools andcolleges.

The city runs its own division — 4,582 students across six schools in 2024–25 — and the two colleges people associate with Petersburg are both outside the city line.

  • Petersburg City Public Schools

    Four elementaries, one middle and one high school. Accreditation status is published per school by the state, and is worth reading before you buy rather than taking as read.

  • Virginia State University

    Not in the city. It sits on a bluff across the Appomattox at Ettrick, in Chesterfield County, though most of Ettrick carries a Petersburg mailing address.

  • Richard Bland College

    Also outside: its campuses are in Prince George and Dinwiddie counties, south-east of the city.

Outdoors4 of them

Where theweekends go.

The battlefield is the open space here, and it is a national park rather than a monument in a square.

  • Petersburg National Battlefield

    Ten miles of trails for walking, cycling and riding across the Eastern Front unit. The siege it commemorates ran 292 days across eight offensives.

  • The Crater

    Where a mine was blown under the Confederate line on 30 July 1864, leaving a hole 170 feet long and 30 deep. Nearly 6,000 died in the battle that followed.

  • Legends Park

    300 acres opened in 1921, with Civil War earthworks running through it and a wildflower and bird sanctuary built by the WPA in the late 1930s.

  • The Appomattox River

    A 157-mile tributary of the James. The Appomattox River Trail is being built along it — 25 miles of greenway across six localities when it is finished.

On the market175 in City of Petersburg · live

Homes on themarket now.

Nothing is listed in City of Petersburg right now, so these are from the wider Richmond market — each card names its own town.

222 Elm St, Petersburg, VA

222 Elm St

Petersburg, VA 23803

  • $199,950
  • 2 beds
  • 1 baths
  • 968 sqft
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Your team36 in Richmond

People who livewhere they sell.

Richmond is led by 5 team leads, Carrie Akins and Christopher Alexander among others.

Meet the whole team
Nearby11 more in Richmond

The rest ofRichmond.

Same team, same standard, 11 other places — nearest first.

Questions5 answered

What peopleask us.

Asked often enough by people moving to City of Petersburg to be worth answering in writing.

Urban in a way little else in this market is: a walkable old core of 19th-century brick, a river, and two interstates meeting at the edge of downtown. It is also the cheapest entry to the Richmond area by a wide margin, and the housing stock is old enough that condition varies street to street.

The real estate rate is $1.27 per $100 of assessed value — the highest of the three independent cities in this market. The city's own page does not state which year it applies to, and Council sets it annually, so confirm the current figure before budgeting. Reassessments run on even-numbered years.

Petersburg City Public Schools, its own division rather than a county one, with about 4,582 students across six schools. The state publishes an accreditation rating for each school individually — worth reading for the specific school serving an address.

No, though almost everything about the address suggests otherwise. VSU sits at Ettrick, across the Appomattox in Chesterfield County. Most of Ettrick carries a Petersburg mailing address, which is why the two are so often confused.

Petersburg voters approved a $1.4 billion Live! Casino resort in November 2024, with more than 80% in favour — the strongest margin any Virginia casino referendum has had. The site is about 92 acres off I-95 at Wagner Road. Timelines have moved before, so check the current position rather than relying on an announced date.

Sources · checked September 14, 2026

Tax rate · School division · Battlefield · Old Towne · River trail · City profile · Our story

Thinking of selling

What is your City of Petersburg 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.

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