The Navy Region Mid-Atlantic recently released the FY 2015 Economic Impact Report for Hampton Roads (link to complete report available here). According to the Navy release, the Navy contributed $10.75 billion in direct impacts to the region in Fiscal Year 2015: a welcome 7% increase of $770 million over its impact in FY2014. This would indicate that the Navy directly contributes 11.2% of the region’s $95.7B economy and 20.6% of the region’s economic activity once indirect and induced impacts have been included.
The data release included several other interesting items:
- The number of Navy/Marine uniformed personnel increased by 2,075 from 2014 to 2015, climbing to 66,717. This increase is especially significant since the region has experienced annual losses in military personnel for eight consecutive years.
- Military payrolls in the region realized an increase of $147 million between 2014 and 2015. The Navy Region Mid-Atlantic also estimated that they employ 49,240 Civilians, though this includes estimates for contractors as well as civil service employment.
- Lastly, military families owned 19,597 residences in Hampton Roads, and rented another 30,724 in 2015, representing 5.0% and 12.1% of occupied housing respectively.