Birmingham, AL vs Virginia Beach, VA
Moving from Birmingham to Virginia Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($262,556 → $373,678 median home) and taxes.
Birmingham 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 Birmingham, AL, you'd need about $106,492 in Virginia Beach, VA (+$6,492).
Livability — Birmingham, AL: 71 · Virginia Beach, VA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,903 sqft in Birmingham vs 2,677 sqft in Virginia Beach ($128 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Birmingham, AL | Virginia Beach, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $17,376 | $22,344 | +$4,968 |
| Groceries | $4,729 | $4,853 | +$124 |
| Transportation | $3,465 | $3,080 | −$385 |
| Utilities | $1,884 | $1,872 | −$12 |
| Insurance | $2,400 | $1,500 | −$900 |
| Taxes | $9,314 | $10,303 | +$989 |
| Total | $39,168 | $43,952 | +$4,784 |
Side by side
| Metric | Birmingham, AL | Virginia Beach, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 91.8 | 97.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.90% | 5.24% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | -2.6% | 4.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.22 | $5.56 |
| Median home price | $262,556 | $373,678 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.8× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 2.0% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $128 | $187 |
| Median rent | $1,448 | $1,862 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.8% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.25% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 5.00% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.50% | 0.86% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $7,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.70% | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $800 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.4 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $78 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $117 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $76 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 450 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 33 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 56.6 | 49.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 1.4 | 6.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 58% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |