Atlantic City, NJ vs Virginia Beach, VA
Moving from Atlantic City to Virginia Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($384,211 → $373,678 median home) and taxes.
Atlantic City vs Virginia Beach at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Atlantic City, NJ, you'd need about $98,804 in Virginia Beach, VA (−$1,196).
Livability — Atlantic City, NJ: 61 · Virginia Beach, VA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,473 sqft in Atlantic City vs 2,677 sqft in Virginia Beach ($202 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Atlantic City, NJ | Virginia Beach, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $25,812 | $22,344 | −$3,468 |
| Groceries | $4,888 | $4,853 | −$35 |
| Transportation | $3,710 | $3,080 | −$630 |
| Utilities | $2,544 | $1,872 | −$672 |
| Insurance | $1,300 | $1,500 | +$200 |
| Taxes | $19,743 | $10,303 | −$9,440 |
| Total | $57,997 | $43,952 | −$14,045 |
Side by side
| Metric | Atlantic City, NJ | Virginia Beach, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 98.9 | 97.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 8.29% | 5.24% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 0.5% | 4.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.63 | $5.56 |
| Median home price | $384,211 | $373,678 |
| Home price ÷ income | 5.3× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.9% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $202 | $187 |
| Median rent | $2,151 | $1,862 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.2% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 6.60% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 10.75% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 2.63% | 0.86% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,600 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $13,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,300 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,000 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 23.5 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.25 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $86 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $171 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $65 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 200 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 86 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 23 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 44.1 | 49.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 23.1 | 6.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 55% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |