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Understanding Greater Richmond’s Regional Data Dashboard
June 15, 2026
A guide to what it tracks, why it matters and what to expect
Regional economic development runs on information, but too often the data that matters most is scattered across sources, inconsistent across geographies or simply hard to pull together quickly. Site consultants, investors and regional partners shouldn’t have to piece it together themselves.
That’s the challenge the Greater Richmond Partnership’s regional data dashboard was built to help solve.
Launched in May 2026, the dashboard brings together 28 indicators across five categories: economic impact, population, regional economy, transportation and real estate, into a single, accessible view of where the Richmond Region stands. It draws from a combination of public and private sources, and where possible, benchmarks the region against U.S. averages. That comparison is intentional: Greater Richmond’s strengths come into clearer focus when set against a national baseline.
The five categories cover the indicators most relevant to business investment decisions and regional competitiveness, including insights to recent data:
- Economic impact tracks GRP-announced projects, capital investment and job creation. Over the past five years, there has been $5.5 billion in capital investment and 7,200 jobs across 34 GRP-announced projects, signaling expansion across the region.
- Population covers growth trends, demographics, education and income. Here, too, Greater Richmond is expanding and holding its own in many ways; for instance, it has seen 3.5% population growth since 2020 compared to 1.8% for the U.S. In addition, the share of workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher (40.2%) exceeds the U.S. as a whole (35%).
- Regional economy examines GDP, employment, unemployment and wages. A relatively low unemployment rate (3.3%) is one area where Greater Richmond continues to outperform the U.S. (4.4%).
- Transportation captures the region’s connectivity by air, water, rail and road. Greater Richmond’s transportation reach remains strong; in addition to 37 direct routes from Richmond International Airport (with more potentially coming) and 21.4 million pounds of air cargo, there were more than 33,000 TEUs in cargo passing through the Richmond Marine Terminal in 2025 — representing a 11.2% gain year-over-year.
- Real estate tracks residential, office and industrial conditions, including vacancy rates and construction activity. While many other markets are experiencing greater unpredictability and challenges on this front, Greater Richmond has lower office and industrial vacancy rates compared to the U.S. — 11.8% and 3.9% versus 20.5% and 7.1%, respectively.
Each category is navigable from the summary view and designed to surface the data most in demand, not just headline numbers but the underlying trends that give those numbers meaning. By ensuring the data is accessible and easily digestible, Greater Richmond’s strengths come into clearer focus.
Example:
A few things worth knowing as you explore the dashboard:
The dashboard is a living resource. GRP plans quarterly updates to refresh the data and expand or refine the indicators over time. An accompanying blog post will go out with each update, focused on what the latest numbers show, so this primer is the foundation and the analysis builds from here.
The dashboard also includes a built-in AI tool on the final tab, available to GRP stakeholders for quick queries and ad hoc exploration as you work through the data. The AI tool is password-protected; to request access, reach out to GRP’s research team directly via email.
You can reach out to our research team for questions or access to the AI assistant by e-mailing: [email protected].
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About The Author
Joe Kane is the Senior Director of Research at Greater Richmond Partnership, where he leads research initiatives supporting business development and marketing efforts to recruit companies to the Richmond Region. Kane began his career as an economist at the U.S. Department of Labor before spending more than a decade as a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., building a research portfolio spanning local, state and national economic development issues. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from William & Mary and a master’s in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia, and teaches as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
