Little Rock, AR vs Virginia Beach, VA
Moving from Little Rock to Virginia Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($231,039 → $373,678 median home) and taxes.
Little Rock 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 Little Rock, AR, you'd need about $109,174 in Virginia Beach, VA (+$9,174).
Livability — Little Rock, AR: 69 · Virginia Beach, VA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 4,329 sqft in Little Rock vs 2,677 sqft in Virginia Beach ($116 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Little Rock, AR | Virginia Beach, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $14,952 | $22,344 | +$7,392 |
| Groceries | $4,655 | $4,853 | +$198 |
| Transportation | $3,405 | $3,080 | −$325 |
| Utilities | $1,524 | $1,872 | +$348 |
| Insurance | $2,800 | $1,500 | −$1,300 |
| Taxes | $8,521 | $10,303 | +$1,782 |
| Total | $35,856 | $43,952 | +$8,095 |
Side by side
| Metric | Little Rock, AR | Virginia Beach, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 89.5 | 97.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.56% | 5.24% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 2.6% | 4.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.09 | $5.56 |
| Median home price | $231,039 | $373,678 |
| Home price ÷ income | 3.7× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 3.5% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $116 | $187 |
| Median rent | $1,246 | $1,862 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.2% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.47% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 3.90% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.70% | 0.86% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,000 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $7,500 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 1.02% | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 23 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $2,800 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,900 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $350 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.2 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 2.95 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $62 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $62 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $78 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 640 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 93 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 30 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 49.0 | 49.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 8.0 | 6.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 60% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 2 | 3 |