Norfolk, Virginia Cost Of Living

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C-

Overall 1%

Goods & Services 3%

Housing 4%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2022 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Norfolk	Virginia	National
Cost of living	101	107	100
Goods & Services	103	100	100
Groceries	96	96	100
Health care	94	100	100
Housing	104	130	100
Transportation	93	93	100
Utilities	102	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Norfolk is 6% lower than the Virginia average
The cost of living in Norfolk is 1% higher than the national average
Norfolk housing is 4% higher than the national average
Virginia general sales tax is 4% higher than the national average
Virginia state income tax is 19% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$66,229	$5,519	$1,545	$1,987
Renters	$32,486	$2,707	$758	$975

The affordability of the housing market in Norfolk, VA as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Norfolk homeowners, the median income is $66,229. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,545 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $32,486. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $758 for their rent related monthly costs.

Virginia Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Virginia	5.3%	6%

Virginia Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Virginia	2%	5.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$21.03	$20.27	3.8%
Beauty Salon	$38.41	$40.39	4.9%
Toothpaste	$2.43	$2.36	3.0%
Shampoo	$1.07	$1.08	0.6%
Movie	$10.17	$10.99	7.4%
Bowling	$19.47	$15.49	25.7%

Groceries

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$4.11	$4.30	4.3%
Fried Chicken	$1.18	$1.40	15.4%
Milk	$1.79	$2.20	18.7%
Potatoes	$3.25	$3.22	1.1%
Pizza	$10.74	$10.74	0.0%
Beer	$10.38	$9.60	8.1%

Health Care

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$112.56	$109.73	2.6%
Doctor	$85.23	$118.34	28.0%
Dentist	$102.83	$100.94	1.9%
Ibuprofen	$10.49	$9.93	5.6%
Lipitor	$455.10	$469.53	3.1%

Housing

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$193,100.00	$184,700.00	4.5%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,104.69	$1,229.62	10.2%
Apartment Rent	$980.00	$949.00	3.3%

Transportation

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$2.53	$2.71	6.7%
Tire Balancing	$48.62	$51.86	6.3%

Utilities

Item	Norfolk	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$179.58	$170.84	5.1%
Phone	$184.18	$187.18	1.6%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Portsmouth, VA	96,071	98	1.8%
Hampton, VA	136,789	101	0.8%
Chesapeake, VA	233,194	110	10.1%
Norfolk, VA	245,724	101	1.0%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Madison, WI	246,034	107	7.4%
Lubbock, TX	244,507	88	12.2%
Irvine, CA	246,992	178	77.5%
Chandler, AZ	242,131	108	7.8%
Longueuil, QC	249,920	n/a
Norfolk, VA	245,724	101	1.0%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.