Houston, TX vs Lynchburg, VA
Moving from Houston to Lynchburg? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($308,306 → $291,459 median home) and taxes.
Houston vs Lynchburg 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 Houston, TX, you'd need about $90,775 in Lynchburg, VA (−$9,225).
Livability — Houston, TX: 75 · Lynchburg, VA: 73 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 3,406 sqft in Houston vs 3,432 sqft in Lynchburg ($147 vs $146 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Houston, TX | Lynchburg, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $19,668 | $15,792 | −$3,876 |
| Groceries | $5,085 | $4,853 | −$231 |
| Transportation | $3,675 | $3,080 | −$595 |
| Utilities | $1,836 | $1,872 | +$36 |
| Insurance | $3,600 | $1,500 | −$2,100 |
| Taxes | $7,399 | $8,905 | +$1,506 |
| Total | $41,263 | $36,002 | −$5,261 |
Side by side
| Metric | Houston, TX | Lynchburg, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 99.7 | 90.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.96% | 4.33% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.6% | 1.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.67 | $5.15 |
| Median home price | $308,306 | $291,459 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.9× | 4.5× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.0% | 2.7% |
| Price per square foot | $147 | $146 |
| Median rent | $1,639 | $1,316 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 8.6% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.20% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 1.79% | 0.55% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,800 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $9,500 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $3,600 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,100 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $900 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 17.0 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.00 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $52 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $134 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 430 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 96 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 38 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 55.6 | 45.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.1 | 8.8 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 59% | 56% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |