Palm Bay, FL vs Virginia Beach, VA
Moving from Palm Bay to Virginia Beach? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($344,841 → $373,678 median home) and taxes.
Palm Bay 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 Palm Bay, FL, you'd need about $96,447 in Virginia Beach, VA (−$3,553).
Livability — Palm Bay, FL: 66 · Virginia Beach, VA: 68 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 2,682 sqft in Palm Bay vs 2,677 sqft in Virginia Beach ($186 vs $187 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Palm Bay, FL | Virginia Beach, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $23,040 | $22,344 | −$696 |
| Groceries | $4,813 | $4,853 | +$40 |
| Transportation | $4,800 | $3,080 | −$1,720 |
| Utilities | $1,656 | $1,872 | +$216 |
| Insurance | $4,200 | $1,500 | −$2,700 |
| Taxes | $4,459 | $10,303 | +$5,844 |
| Total | $42,968 | $43,952 | +$983 |
Side by side
| Metric | Palm Bay, FL | Virginia Beach, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 101.3 | 97.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.86% | 5.24% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.5% | 4.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.77 | $5.56 |
| Median home price | $344,841 | $373,678 |
| Home price ÷ income | 4.8× | 4.8× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -2.2% | 2.5% |
| Price per square foot | $186 | $187 |
| Median rent | $1,920 | $1,862 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 9.1% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 7.02% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | None | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.72% | 0.86% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,500 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 26 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $4,200 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,900 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $1,400 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 15.4 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $38 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $88 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $76 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 380 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 91 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 52 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 51.5 | 49.2 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 6.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 68% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 3 |