Hampton Roads Neighborhoods

City of Norfolk · VA298

Norfolk for a Naval Station Norfolk move

Norfolk is the city that holds Naval Station Norfolk itself, at 1530 Gilbert Street in ZIP 23511. City hall sits at 810 Union Street in 23510. Both ZIPs land in VA298, so living in Norfolk and reporting to the naval station keeps the allowance and the address in the same area.

Source: MilitaryINSTALLATIONS (Military OneSource): Naval Station Norfolk, checked 2026-10-09; City of Norfolk official website, checked 2026-10-09; DoD BAH 2026, sorted_zipmha26.txt and mhanames26.txt, checked 2026-10-09.

Norfolk quick facts
Average assessed value, all residential homes$339,760 as of July 1, 2026, up 3.85% from $327,150. An average of assessments, not a sale price.
Residences on the roll58,859
Real estate tax, FY 2027$1.23 per $100 of assessed value
Solid waste fee$33.51 a month
School divisionNorfolk Public Schools; campus by address
City hall to NAVSTA Norfolk Gate 29.8 miles, typically 16-22 minutes, Monday 7:00 a.m., gate wait excluded
2026 BAH, with dependentsE-5 $2,430 · E-6 $2,559 · O-3 $2,694

Source: City of Norfolk, Office of the Real Estate Assessor, 2026 Annual Report, checked 2026-10-09; City of Norfolk, FY 2027 annual appropriations ordinance, checked 2026-10-09; City of Chesapeake, FY 2027 Local Tax Comparisons (PDF dated Aug 2026), checked 2026-10-09; Norfolk Public Schools, checked 2026-10-09; DoD BAH 2026, rate files bahw26.dat and bahwo26.dat (May 13, 2026 revision), checked 2026-10-09.

Union Street to Gate 2

Start at city hall, 810 Union St, and end at Gate 2 on Hampton Blvd., the naval station's around-the-clock gate. Google sends the trip up Tidewater Dr and west on I-564 for 9.8 miles. Set to leave at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, October 12, 2026, it shows a typical 16 to 22 minutes. That figure stops at the gate arm, so the ID check comes on top of it, and a house across town from Union Street will not match it.

Drive: Google Maps, depart Mon Oct 12, 2026, 7:00 a.m. ET, checked 2026-10-09. Gate 2 hours: NAVSTA Norfolk Gate Hours, checked 2026-10-09.

An old city by the assessor's count

The Norfolk assessor sorts every residence by year built. Of 58,859, some 21,031 (35.73%) date from before 1950 and another 15,293 (25.98%) from the 1950s. Together that is roughly six in ten homes older than 1960. Only 8,333, or 14.16%, were built in 2000 or later, and that newest group carries the highest average assessment, $471,822. For a family weighing a pre-war house against a newer one, the price gap starts there.

Source: City of Norfolk, Office of the Real Estate Assessor, 2026 Annual Report, checked 2026-10-09.

How close the assessments track sales

The assessor's 2026 reassessment rested on 2,862 validated sales out of 6,539 recorded transactions. For 2,460 residential sales in 2025, the median sales price was $340,000 and the median ratio of assessment to price was 98.41%. That ratio is why the July 1 assessment average is a fair public stand-in for the market, even though no single house is guaranteed to sell near it.

Source: City of Norfolk, Office of the Real Estate Assessor, 2026 Annual Report, checked 2026-10-09.

Taxes on the BAH side of the ledger

Norfolk's FY 2027 ordinance keeps the rate at $1.23 per $100. On a house assessed at the city's $339,760 residential average, that works out to about $4,179 a year, simple arithmetic and not a bill. In the Chesapeake comparison, Norfolk has the second-highest rate of the seven Hampton Roads cities, behind Portsmouth at $1.24.

Source: City of Norfolk, FY 2027 annual appropriations ordinance, checked 2026-10-09; City of Norfolk, Office of the Real Estate Assessor, 2026 Annual Report, checked 2026-10-09; City of Chesapeake, FY 2027 Local Tax Comparisons (PDF dated Aug 2026), checked 2026-10-09.

The Norfolk average as a monthly payment

Put the assessor's $339,760 residential average through a no-down-payment VA loan at this week's national rate and the monthly figure lands above the E-5 allowance and just above O-3.

Illustration, not a quote: first-use VA loan, nothing down, 30-year fixed; excludes homeowners insurance, HOA dues and upkeep
Price used (illustration only)$339,760: Norfolk's average assessed value, all residential homes, July 1, 2026
VA funding fee, first use, under 5% down, 2.15%$7,305, financed
Loan amount$347,065
Rate: Freddie Mac 30-year average, week of Oct 8, 20267.40%
Principal and interest, 30 years$2,403.01 a month
City real estate tax at $1.23 per $100About $348 a month ($4,179 a year)
Payment before insurance and HOAAbout $2,751 a month
2026 BAH VA298, E-5 with dependents$2,430; $321 short of the payment
2026 BAH VA298, O-3 with dependents$2,694; $57 short of the payment

Insurance, HOA dues, upkeep and the other closing costs are not in the total. The Freddie Mac figure is a national conventional average standing in for a VA rate, which a lender sets. A buyer exempt from the funding fee, such as a veteran receiving VA disability compensation, removes that line.

Source: City of Norfolk, Office of the Real Estate Assessor, 2026 Annual Report, checked 2026-10-09; VA.gov, VA funding fee and loan closing costs, checked 2026-10-09; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, checked 2026-10-09; City of Norfolk, FY 2027 annual appropriations ordinance, checked 2026-10-09; DoD BAH 2026, rate files bahw26.dat and bahwo26.dat (May 13, 2026 revision), checked 2026-10-09.

Schools

Public schools are Norfolk Public Schools. Campus assignment depends on the address, so check the specific house before counting on a school.

Source: Norfolk Public Schools, checked 2026-10-09.

Downtown on the water

Town Point Park is Norfolk's waterfront venue for festivals, concerts, and cultural and educational events. SevenVenues manages it, and it is not available for private invitation-only events such as weddings or birthday parties.

Source: City of Norfolk, Town Point Park, checked 2026-10-09.

Who it suits

Norfolk suits a household reporting to Naval Station Norfolk that values living in the same city and housing area as the base and is comfortable with older construction. It is a weaker fit for someone who wants the lowest tax rate in the region, or whose orders are for Langley, where the allowance comes from VA297 instead.

Nearby alternatives

Sources and dates