Richmonders

Richmond benefits from an eclectic mix of people who are from the area (the “from-heres”) and people who move here (the “come-heres”), as well as the influence of those who have passed through the area.

Some of the more famous Richmonders include:

  • Famed tennis player and humanitarian Arthur Ashe, the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam tournament, commemorated in a monument on Richmond’s Monument Avenue

  • Author Edgar Allen Poe, who grew up and first gained a national reputation in Richmond, and whose life story is told at the Poe Museum

  • Maggie Walker, the first woman in America to found a bank, whose house is now a Richmond museum

  • Tap dance king Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

  • John Marshall, fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

  • Contemporary author Tom Robbins, who draws inspiration from Richmond for some characters and settings

  • Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz

  • Actor Blair Underwood

  • Siblings Warren Beatty and Shirely MacLaine, both born in Richmond

  • R & B singer D’Angelo

  • Singer-songwriter Pat Benatar

  • American idol contestant Elliot Yamin

  • R & B singer and Grammy nominee Trey Songz


Richmonders by the Numbers

Population: 1,225,626 (2007 estimate)
Median age: 37 years
Sex: 51.6% female, 48.4% male
Foreign-born: 6%

Workforce by industry:

  • 19.7% works in educational services, health care, or social assistance

  • 17.2 % works in manufacturing and construction

  • 12.2% works in retail

  • 10.1% works in finance and insurance, real estate, or rental and leasing

  • 10.1% works in professional, scientific, management, administrative or waste management services

  • 7.6% works in arts, entertainment, recreation, or hospitality

  • 7.1% works in public administration   

Of these, 17.6 % are government workers.   

30.2% have a bachelor’s degree or higher (10.7% with graduate or professional degree; 19.5% bachelor’s degree)