The Lovely East Coast Beach Destination Was Named 'America's Most Caring City' In 2026

Virginia Beach may be best known as a popular spring break destination and one of the best East Coast beach towns to visit. However, you might not know that it has also been deemed "America's most caring city" for 2026. A study by the financial company WalletHub compared 100 of the largest cities in the nation, ranking them across 38 categories to find the cities with a strong emphasis on supporting the local communities. This included safety measures like crime rates, volunteer hours, and donations, among a number of other criteria. 

WalletHub ranked the cities by weighing each factor by importance on a 100-point scale, combining the scores, and then ranking them based on their averages. The company looked at three main areas: caring for the community, caring for the vulnerable, and caring in the workforce. Virginia Beach placed first overall out of a score of 68.52. 

Virginia Beach residents have a strong involvement in their community. According to WalletHub, the city placed first in the country for volunteering time per capita. This means that the residents go beyond special events like National Volunteer Week, which takes place in April. According to the City of Virginia Beach website, residents donated over 800,000 hours of their free time to local organizations like schools, shelters, environmental groups, and other nonprofits in 2024 alone.

Not only does Virginia Beach place first overall for volunteering hours, but it is also the fourth-highest-ranked city for fundraising and selling items for charities and nonprofit organizations. Plus, WalletHub's research found that people in Virginia Beach Googled terms like "charitable organizations" and "donations" more often than residents of other large cities. Data came from a variety of sources in 2025, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, AmeriCorps, data from Google, the Internal Revenue Service, and other governmental agencies.

Virginia Beach has one of the lowest rates of violent crime among the cities listed, coming in second, as well as a low property crime rating. The city's adult and child poverty rates are also some of the lowest. These fall under the category of "caring for the vulnerable," where the city comes in at No. 21 overall. Making sure citizens have a higher quality of life, keeping safety as a priority, and ensuring that residents have their basic needs met through volunteering and donations are just a few examples of how the city reached first place.

Visitors who want to give back while spending time in Virginia Beach have numerous ways to volunteer. After enjoying the "world's longest stretch of pleasure beach," full of activities, food, and beauty, you can give back to the community with organizations that help protect the coastline. You can volunteer with the non-profit Chesapeake Bay Foundation, whose sole focus is protecting the ocean and rivers while educating others about environmental issues. Throughout the year, the group holds events to remove trash and debris from the waterways, plant and restore native species, and help clean the shorelines and beaches.

Other volunteer opportunities focus on helping animals and people in the community, even as a tourist. You can donate blood at the American Red Cross in Virginia Beach or help with after-school programs like Care by Community, which helps children facing homelessness or housing insecurity. The Virginia Beach SPCA is almost always looking for volunteers to help with animal care, such as dog walking and socializing cats. For another city that cares, head to North Carolina's "Harbor Of Hospitality," the artsy Elizabeth City, with delicious food and fascinating history.