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Richmond, Virginia
| Richmond, Virginia | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Richmond
Danny Avula | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2028 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2028 |
| City council seats: | 9 |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 226,610 |
| Race: | White 43.3% African American 40.4% Asian 2.8% Native American 0.4% Pacific Islander 0.1% Multiple 6.2% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 10.5% |
| Median household income: | $62,671 |
| High school graduation rate: | 89.3% |
| College graduation rate: | 44.1% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Richmond offices | |
| Virginia Congressional Delegation Virginia State Legislature Virginia state executive offices | |
Richmond is an independent city in Virginia. The city's population was 226,610 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Richmond utilizes a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer.[1][2]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for proposing a budget, signing legislation into law, appointing departmental directors and overseeing the city's day-to-day operations. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[1][2][3] The current Mayor of Richmond is Danny Avula (nonpartisan). Avula assumed office in 2025.
City council
The Richmond City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[1]
The Richmond City Council is made up of nine members elected by the city's nine districts.[1]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Mayoral partisanship
Richmond has a Democratic mayor. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city of Richmond, Virginia, is holding general elections for commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer on November 4, 2025. A primary was scheduled for June 17, 2025. The filing deadline for primary candidates was April 3, 2025, and the filing deadline for independent and minor party candidates was June 17, 2025.
2024
The city of Richmond, Virginia, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was June 18, 2024.
2021
The city of Richmond, Virginia, held general elections for commonwealth's attorney, sheriff, and treasurer on November 2, 2021. A primary was scheduled for June 8, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was March 25, 2021, and the filing deadline for independent and minor party candidates was August 13, 2021.
2020
The city of Richmond, Virginia, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was June 9, 2020.
2019
The city of Richmond, Virginia, held a general election for circuit court clerk and special elections for commonwealth's attorney and the District 5 seat of the city council on November 5, 2019. A primary for circuit court clerk was scheduled for June 11, 2019. The filing deadline for the circuit court clerk election was March 28, 2019, and the filing deadline for the two special elections was August 16, 2019.[4][5]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Richmond | |
|---|---|
| Richmond | |
| Population | 226,610 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 59 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 43.2% |
| Black/African American | 42% |
| Asian | 2.1% |
| Native American | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% |
| Other (single race) | 5.3% |
| Multiple | 7.1% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.3% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 89.3% |
| College graduation rate | 44.1% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $62,671 |
| Persons below poverty level | 18.8% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. The responsibility for drafting a budget falls to the mayor, who then proposes the budget to the city council. The council must then approve or amend the budget. The council also holds hearings to allow for public input in the budget process.[6]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[7]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[8] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[9] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[7]
Richmond, Virginia salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
900 E. Broad St., Suite 201
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-646-7970
City Clerk's office
900 E. Broad St., Suite 200
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-646-7955
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: List of Virginia ballot measures
To view a list of statewide measures in Virginia, click here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Richmond, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Richmond, Virginia began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at Monroe Park before moving to the state capitol and police headquarters.[10] On May 31, Mayor Levar Stoney (D) requested assistance from Gov. Ralph Northam (D), who declared a state of emergency. Stoney issued a curfew the same day.[11] The national guard was not deployed over the weekend.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 City of Richmond, "Richmond City Council: About Council," accessed October 6, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Municode, "PART I - CHARTER: Chapter 5. - Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer," accessed October 6, 2021
- ↑ City of Richmond, "Mayor," accessed September 10, 2018
- ↑ City of Richmond Voter Registration and Elections, "Order - City Council - 5th District - Richmond City," accessed July 8, 2019
- ↑ City of Richmond Voter Registration and Elections, "Order - Commonwealth’s Attorney - Richmond City," accessed July 8, 2019
- ↑ The City of Richmond, "Richmond City Council Government Budget Overview," accessed October 5, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed June 4, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed May 26, 2021
- ↑ NBC 12, "Protests over George Floyd’s death turn violent in downtown Richmond," May 30, 2020
- ↑ WRIC, "Gov. Northam declares state of emergency, Richmond curfew until June 3," June 1, 2020
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