Sacramento, CA vs Richmond, VA
Moving from Sacramento to Richmond? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($582,707 → $397,705 median home) and taxes.
Sacramento vs Richmond 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 Sacramento, CA, you'd need about $90,142 in Richmond, VA (−$9,858).
Livability — Sacramento, CA: 49 · Richmond, VA: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,287 sqft in Sacramento vs 2,514 sqft in Richmond ($389 vs $199 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Sacramento, CA | Richmond, VA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,396 | $21,156 | −$6,240 |
| Groceries | $5,247 | $4,853 | −$393 |
| Transportation | $5,125 | $3,080 | −$2,045 |
| Utilities | $3,804 | $1,872 | −$1,932 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,500 | +$0 |
| Taxes | $20,410 | $10,041 | −$10,369 |
| Total | $63,482 | $42,502 | −$20,980 |
Side by side
| Metric | Sacramento, CA | Richmond, VA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 109.1 | 98.3 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.74% | 4.78% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.6% | 3.6% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.21 | $5.60 |
| Median home price | $582,707 | $397,705 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.5× | 4.9× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.6% | 2.3% |
| Price per square foot | $389 | $199 |
| Median rent | $2,283 | $1,763 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 13.5% | 12.5% |
| Combined sales tax | 8.82% | 5.73% |
| Capital gains tax | 13.30% | 5.75% |
| Property tax rate | 0.79% | 0.76% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $7,200 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $19,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 0.65% | 3.97% |
| Avg commute (min) | 28 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $2,400 | $1,400 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $750 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $950 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 35.3 | 17.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.85 | 3.20 |
| Natural gas / mo | $72 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $138 | $103 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $77 |
| Violent crime /100k | 500 | 200 |
| Avg summer high °F | 84 | 87 |
| Avg winter low °F | 45 | 28 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 19.2 | 45.5 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 0.0 | 8.8 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 78% | 57% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |