Richmond, VA business phone guide

The Richmond, VA area

The Richmond, VA metro area covers 17 counties in Virginia and had 1.4 million residents in July 2024, up 4.2% since April 2020. The U.S. population grew 2.6% over the same period. Chesterfield County, VA is the most populous, with 390,000 people. By population it ranks 44th of the 925 metro and micropolitan areas and 44th by business establishments.

Richmond, VA's business base

County Business Patterns counted 33,589 establishments in the area in 2023, employing 575,588 people in mid-March with $38.9 billion in annual payroll. That is an average of 17.1 employees per establishment. 52.2% of establishments with employees had fewer than five people. By establishment count, the largest sectors are retail trade (4,066), professional, scientific, and technical services (3,963), and health care and social assistance (3,879).

How Richmond, VA's businesses compare

Richmond, VA has 24.5 business establishments per 1,000 residents, in line with the U.S. figure of 24.6. Establishments average 17.1 employees against 16.7 nationally, and payroll per employee is $67,600 (in line with the U.S. $68,342). 52.2% of establishments with employees have fewer than five people (U.S.: 55.5%), while 5.8% have 50 or more. Most establishments are far smaller than the average suggests, so it pays to price a phone plan at the headcount you actually have rather than the average.

Small-business industries in Richmond, VA

Of the 141 industries these guides cover, 141 have a published Census count in Richmond, VA. The largest are full-service restaurants (1,105), limited-service restaurants (1,044), and physician practices (742). Relative to population, home and garden equipment repair shops are the most over-represented: 0.9 per 100,000 residents against 0.5 nationally.

Area codes in Richmond, VA

The area's named cities and towns have 489 NANPA-assigned exchanges across 5 area codes; 804 has the most (94%). A local number in the code your customers know is the simplest signal that you are nearby; Callata's plan includes up to 3.

Local numbers by city

Pages for 6 cities and towns in the area list their area codes, prefixes and carriers.

Phone costs for a typical Richmond, VA business

The comparison below uses 17 users, the rounded average establishment size in Richmond, VA. At list prices checked September 28, 2026, that is $424.15 a month on Ooma Office Pro and $510.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core. On Callata the same 17 people cost $339.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

Callata in Richmond, VA

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

If you already have a number in Richmond, VA, porting it to Callata is free. Texting from a local number requires a one-time carrier registration (10DLC, $49), and the numbers available in any area code depend on carrier inventory when you choose them.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.