Richmond · VA · 6 million licensed drivers licensed drivers · Primary industries: Defense and federal contracting (Northern Virginia), Technology and data centers (Loudoun, Fairfax, Prince William), Healthcare (Inova, Sentara, Carilion, VCU Health), Agriculture (poultry, tobacco, soybeans, peanuts), Shipbuilding and ports (Hampton Roads)
Virginia has roughly 6 million licensed drivers covering 42,775 square miles, divided geographically among Northern Virginia (Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford), the Richmond metro region, the Hampton Roads region (Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Hampton, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk), the Roanoke / New River Valley, the Shenandoah Valley, and Southwest Virginia. Northern Virginia is one of the densest concentrations of federal contractors and data-center operators in the world, with the Dulles Technology Corridor anchoring more than 70 percent of global internet traffic through Loudoun County data centers. Field engineers, federal account managers, and government-services consultants serving the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir, Fort Myer, Fort Eustis, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in Springfield, the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, the FBI Academy in Quantico, and the Marine Corps Base Quantico log heavy mileage on I-66, I-95, I-395, I-495 (the Capital Beltway), I-66 Express Lanes, I-395 / I-95 Express Lanes, and the Dulles Toll Road / Dulles Greenway (VA 267). Pharmaceutical and medical-device sales reps serving the Inova Health System, Sentara Healthcare, Carilion Clinic, VCU Health, UVA Health, and Bon Secours Mercy Health networks routinely log 25,000 to 40,000 business miles per year. Shipyard contractors and naval-aviation suppliers serving Newport News Shipbuilding, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story drive Hampton Roads mileage on I-64, I-264, I-464, I-664, US 17, US 58, US 13, and the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) / Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. Agricultural extension agents in the Eastern Shore, the Southside, and the Shenandoah Valley cover significant rural mileage on US 29, US 220, US 460, and US 17. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) maintains over 58,000 lane miles of state-route, the third-largest state-maintained highway system after Texas and North Carolina. The IRS standard mileage rate of 70 cents per mile (2025) governs federal income tax treatment.
| From | To | Distance (miles) |
|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Norfolk | 95 |
| Richmond | Washington DC area | 110 |
| Norfolk | Virginia Beach | 20 |
| Richmond | Roanoke | 190 |
| Charlottesville | Richmond | 70 |
| Roanoke | Bristol | 145 |
| Fredericksburg | Richmond | 60 |
Virginia does not have a state statute requiring private-sector employers to reimburse business mileage at the IRS rate. The Virginia Wage Payment Act (Va. Code Section 40.1-29) requires payment of agreed-upon wages but does not specify a mileage rate. Most private employers default to the IRS standard mileage rate of 70 cents per mile (2025) because it is the simplest tax-free arrangement under IRC Section 62(c). State of Virginia employees follow the Commonwealth Accounting Policies and Procedures (CAPP) Manual issued by the Department of Accounts, which currently sets the personal vehicle mileage rate at the federal IRS rate (70 cents per mile in 2025) when a state vehicle is not reasonably available. If a state vehicle is reasonably available and the employee elects to use a personal vehicle for convenience, the rate drops to a fleet-vehicle equivalent rate (currently 25.5 cents per mile). Federal contractors operating under General Services Administration (GSA) prime contracts must follow the GSA Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) mileage rate, which is set by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) and historically tracks the IRS figure. Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road / Dulles Greenway, the I-66 Express Lanes, the I-395 / I-95 Express Lanes, the I-495 Capital Beltway Express Lanes, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) Expansion, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the Powhite Parkway, the Pocahontas Parkway, the Downtown Expressway, and the Boulevard Bridge in Richmond are all reimbursable separately from the per-mile rate; E-ZPass account statements provide acceptable documentation. Field employees in defense contracting, healthcare, and shipbuilding sectors should retain mileage logs for at least three years for IRS purposes (Treasury Regulation 1.274-5) and three years for Virginia civil-action limitation purposes for written contracts (Va. Code Section 8.01-246). Best-practice records include date, business purpose, starting odometer, ending odometer, and origin and destination, supplemented by E-ZPass statements, parking receipts, and Common Access Card (CAC) gate-entry logs when documenting visits to military installations.