How Much Does It Cost to Live In Virginia Beach, VA?
Virginia Beach is a resort city in southeast Virginia, located on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay.
Virginia Beach offers a classic beach vacation while holding a reputation as a family-friendly oceanfront resort.
This city actually feels like a suburb without a city.
The OceanFront has a lot to offer.
A lot of local and chain restaurants, lots of stores with goods you can’t find anywhere else, and a really long beautiful beach.
The cost of living is starting to rise and getting a bit more expensive by the minute.
United States : Cost of Living by City
- Albany, NY
- Albuquerque, NM
- Anchorage, AK
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Arlington, TX
- Asheville, NC
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Bakersfield, CA
- Baltimore, MD
- Bellevue, WA
- Bellingham, WA
- Berkeley, CA
- Birmingham, AL
- Boise, ID
- Boston, MA
- Boulder, CO
- Brooklyn, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Burlington, VT
- Charleston, SC
- Charlotte, NC
- Chattanooga, TN
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Dayton, OH
- Denver, CO
- Des Moines, IA
- Detroit, MI
- El Paso, TX
- Eugene, OR
- Everett, WA
- Fayetteville, AR
- Fort Myers, FL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Fort Worth, TX
- Fresno, CA
- Gainesville, FL
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Greensboro, NC
- Hartford, CT
- Honolulu, HI
- Houston, TX
- Huntsville, AL
- Indianapolis, IN
- Irvine, CA
- Jacksonville, FL
- Jersey City, NJ
- Kansas City, MO
- Knoxville, TN
- Las Vegas, NV
- Lexington, KY
- Little Rock, AR
- Long Beach, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Louisville, KY
- Lubbock, TX
- Madison, WI
- Memphis, TN
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- New York, NY
- Oakland, CA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Olympia, WA
- Orlando, FL
- Peoria, IL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Portland, ME
- Portland, OR
- Raleigh, NC
- Reno, NV
- Richmond, VA
- Rochester, NY
- Sacramento, CA
- Saint Louis, MO
- Saint Paul, MN
- Saint Petersburg, FL
- Salem, OR
- Salt Lake City, UT
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Spokane, WA
- Springfield, MO
- Syracuse, NY
- Tacoma, WA
- Tallahassee, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Toledo, OH
- Tucson, AZ
- Tulsa, OK
- Vancouver, WA
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Washington, DC
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Wichita, KS
RESTAURANTS
Virginia Beach offers plenty of good bars and restaurants.
The city is diverse when it comes to food and you can eat for as little or as much as you want.
Dining is improving and will continue to improve.
There are many options now and you can get a restaurant burger for $6-$8 and a craft beer for $4.
MARKETS
Stroll to an occasional Farmer’s Market to get a taste of freshness whenever you can.
Fresh produce, pastries, wines, cheeses, and more are all available for everyone.
And keep in mind that it’s always much cheaper to cook for yourself than to eat out every day.
You will save a lot of money this way!
TRANSPORTATION
It is quite difficult to get around Virginia Beach without a car, but if you must go around Virginia Beach by bus, use the Hampton Roads Transit Bus.
The fare is 2.0$ per ride.
Public transportation by bus is mostly slow, and few areas are served so you should count that in when considering traveling by bus.
UTILITIES (MONTHLY)
Utilities are rather reasonable in Virginia Beach.
The cost of utilities there amounts to around 100$ for a month for basic ones like electricity, water, cooling, heating, and garbage services in an apartment of 85m2.
Internet however, is pretty expensive compared to this, costing around 73$ a month.
SPORTS & LEISURE
Virginia Beach also offers lots of parks and recreational places to go to, if you like to exercise and discover or just get outside.
If you prefer exercising indoors, a month of going to the gym or being a member of a fitness club will cost you 30$ – that’s more or less the same as in most countries around the world.
CLOTHING & SHOES
The city is home to Lynnhaven Mall and Hilltop Shopping Center, both of which are approximately five minutes from the oceanfront.
The Hilltop area contains several smaller shopping centers with national brand stores and smaller boutiques and you’ll find many places where you can buy quality jeans for around 78$ or running sneakers for 83$ – the prices of clothing are really low.
RENT PER MONTH
The affordability of housing is decent depending on what job you have.
There are areas in the city that offer better housing options for cheaper rent in comparison to the areas with a higher demand.
If you opt for areas a bit further from the center of the city, the rent price will drop to around 1400$.
Otherwise, a one-bedroom apartment in the center will cost you well over 1700$.
Cost of Living Averages Table for Virginia Beach, VA
*Note: All prices are indicated in USD.| Average Restaurant Prices | |
|---|---|
| Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant) | $18.0 |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter) | $4.38 |
| Water (0.33 Liter) | $2.12 | Average Market Prices |
| Milk (1 Liter) | $0.86 |
| Loaf Bread (500g) | $3.31 |
| Eggs (12) | $4.25 | Average Transport Prices |
| One Way Ticket | $2.00 |
| Monthly Pass | $70.00 |
| Gasoline | $0.88 | Average Utilities Prices |
| Basic (Water, Electricity, Garbage, Heating, Cooling) | $101.17 |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local | $0.10 |
| Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | $73.12 | Average Leisure Prices |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | $30.00 |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour) | $25.0 |
| Cinema, 1 Seat, International Release | $12.00 | Average Clothing Prices |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Comparable) | $78.00 |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, etc...) | $47.50 |
| 1 Pair of Adidas Walking Shoes (Mid-Range) | $83.75 | Average Rent Prices |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Center | $1712.50 |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Center | $1440.62 |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Center | $3490.0 |
How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Virginia Beach, VA?
The biggest chunk of the paycheck of Virginia Beach citizens gets spent on rent but there’s a probability that if you came to work here, you wouldn’t have problems since most companies give you a relatively high salary.
Food is the second biggest expense for the people of Virginia Beach, which only makes sense and goes in line with the rest of the world.
What is also high is the percentage of restaurant expenses: a huge part of one’s entire salary gets spent on restaurants, but that’s also expected, more or less.
Average Costs Breakdown
Virginia Beach, VA: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages
Most of the industries are not exciting but they’re stable and secure.
The large corporations in Virginia Beach are mainly tourism, finance, and insurance-related companies.
Virginia Beach makes the best of both worlds: decent salaries with a very low cost of living.
If nothing else, your ability to save allows you to enjoy more of this city’s amenities — and still vacation elsewhere!
Unemployment is generally lower than the national average, and wages are high relative to the cost of living: for example, the average monthly wage here is well over 5300$.
Virginia Beach Safety Overview
READ THE FULL REPORT: Virginia Beach Safety Review
Safety Index:
- OVERALL RISK: LOW
- TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: LOW
- PICKPOCKETS RISK: LOW
- NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: MEDIUM
- MUGGING RISK: LOW
- TERRORISM RISK: LOW
- SCAMS RISK: LOW
- WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: LOW
