Newport News is home to many shipbuilding, military, and aerospace installations that fuel the local economy. Newport News is the end of CSX Railroad tracks owned by Fortune 500 giant CSX Transportation once known as the Chesapeake and Ohio (CO) Railroad. The two Newport News industrial parks have helped foster manufacturing and distribution industries that now help fuel the economy.

Newport News lawyers help solve all kinds of legal problems. Newport News isn't all business though, they city is home to countless historical sites, museums, and shopping thoroughfares. The Newport News Mariners' Museum is a world renown collection of over 35,000 pieces that include some works of art and a number of artifacts. Some of those artifacts are from the USS Monitor. The USS Monitor was an American Civil War ship credited with the first ironclad battle against the Confederate States Ship named the CSS Virginia. The Virginia War Museum, U.S. Army Transportation Museum, Peninsula Fine Arts Museum, and Ferguson Center for the Arts on the Christopher Newport University campus are other popular attractions in Newport News.

There's 35 city parks in Newport News but most tourists visiting are boaters who visit one of the cities two boat ramps: Denbigh Park Boat Ramp and Hilton Pier/Ravine. The area is know for having outstanding trout fishing. There are camping, archery, Frisbee golf, and picnic areas with barbeque pits available for residents and tourists too.