Virginia Beach, Virginia Cost Of Living

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F

Overall 11%

Goods & Services 3%

Housing 39%

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	Virginia Beach	Virginia	National
Cost of living	111	107	100
Goods & Services	103	100	100
Groceries	96	96	100
Health care	94	100	100
Housing	139	130	100
Transportation	93	93	100
Utilities	102	97	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Virginia Beach is 4% higher than the Virginia average
The cost of living in Virginia Beach is 11% higher than the national average
Virginia Beach housing is 39% 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	$83,236	$6,936	$1,942	$2,497
Renters	$48,771	$4,064	$1,138	$1,463

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Virginia Beach is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Virginia Beach has a median income of about $83,236 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $1,942 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $48,771. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $1,138 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

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	Virginia Beach	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	Virginia Beach	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	Virginia Beach	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	Virginia Beach	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$262,200.00	$184,700.00	42.0%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,104.69	$1,229.62	10.2%
Apartment Rent	$1,258.00	$949.00	32.6%

Transportation

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

Utilities

Item	Virginia Beach	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.
Virginia Beach, VA	449,733	111	11.5%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Colorado Springs, CO	448,759	108	8.0%
Halifax, NS	451,852	n/a
Laval, QC	445,050	n/a
Atlanta, GA	456,378	107	6.6%
Omaha, NE	443,072	92	8.0%
Virginia Beach, VA	449,733	111	11.5%

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