Jobs & Economy in Hampton
Hampton's economy runs on a genuinely unique dual anchor: Langley Air Force Base (Air Combat Command headquarters, F-22 Raptors) alongside NASA's Langley Research Center (NASA's oldest field center), plus Sentara CarePlex Hospital's top-5%-nationally-ranked healthcare employment.
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Learn moreLangley Air Force Base: a real, high-profile military anchor
Langley Air Force Base, part of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, hosts the headquarters of Air Combat Command and the 1st Fighter Wing, which flies the F-22A Raptor and F-15 Eagle -- Langley was the Air Force's first operational F-22 wing location, with the 27th Fighter Squadron becoming the Air Force's first operational F-22A squadron in December 2005.
NASA Langley Research Center: a real, genuinely unique civilian-aerospace anchor
NASA Langley Research Center, founded in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, is NASA's oldest field center, employing roughly 3,400 civil servants and contractors across nearly 200 facilities on 764 acres -- a specialized, stable federal-research employment base genuinely different from a purely military-driven economy, and historically home to the "Hidden Figures" West Area Computers.
Sentara CarePlex Hospital adds a real healthcare-employment anchor
Sentara CarePlex Hospital, ranked in the top 5% of hospitals nationally per Healthgrades, provides a further significant local-employment base in healthcare, distinct from the military and aerospace-research anchors above.
A joint-base-wide economic-impact figure, not Hampton-only
JBLE as a whole (Langley AFB in Hampton plus Fort Eustis, 17 miles away in Newport News) generated a $4.51 billion FY2024 regional economic impact -- a real, substantial figure, though not independently broken out as Langley-AFB-only for this pass; disclosed as a joint-base-wide total rather than a Hampton-specific one.
Key takeaways
- Langley Air Force Base (Air Combat Command HQ, F-22 Raptors) is a real, high-profile military-employment anchor.
- NASA Langley Research Center (NASA's oldest field center, ~3,400 employees) gives Hampton a genuinely unique civilian-aerospace-research anchor unmatched elsewhere in this build.
- Sentara CarePlex Hospital (top 5% nationally per Healthgrades) adds a real, distinct healthcare-employment base.
- JBLE's $4.51B FY2024 economic impact is a joint-base-wide figure shared with Fort Eustis in Newport News, not Langley-AFB-specific.
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