Chincoteague is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Virginia. With a population of 3,279 people and three associated neighborhoods, Chincoteague is the 163rd largest community in Virginia.Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Chincoteague is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Chincoteague is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Chincoteague who work in office and administrative support (18.21%), management occupations (11.54%), and sales jobs (10.43%). Also of interest is that Chincoteague has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 13.42% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Another notable thing is that Chincoteague is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Chincoteague’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live. It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Chincoteague has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Chincoteague has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Chincoteague than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Chincoteague may be for you. One of the nice things about Chincoteague is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.97 minutes getting to work every day. Being a small town, Chincoteague does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.The population of Chincoteague is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 38.02% of adults in Chincoteague have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree. The per capita income in Chincoteague in 2022 was $41,918, which is upper middle income relative to Virginia and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $167,672 for a family of four. However, Chincoteague contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. The people who call Chincoteague home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Chincoteague residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Chincoteague include English, German, Irish, Polish, and British. The most common language spoken in Chincoteague is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Langs. of India.
