Arlington vs Virginia Beach - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Arlington	Virginia Beach
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1907	$2392
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4693	$5464
🏠 One person rent	$1121	$1512
🏘️ Family rent	$1937	$2536
🍽️ Food expenses	$561	$610
🚐 Transport expenses	$86.4	$102
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3714	$4175
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	23 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	90	74
😀 Quality of life	78	88
🏙️ Population	394K	459K

The cost of living in Arlington is 20% less expensive than in Virginia Beach. Cities ranked 2397th and 1097th ($1907 vs $2392) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1784th and 940th in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Arlington compared to 1.7 months in Virginia Beach. Ranked 264th vs 88th best cities to live in the United States, and 894th vs 304th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Arlington vs Virginia Beach

Prices for goods and services in Arlington and Virginia Beach are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Arlington	Virginia Beach
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16	$17.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$56.8	$90.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.7	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.17	$6.05
☕ Cappuccino	$5.41	$5.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.78	$2.74
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1271	$1635
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$867	$1255
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2259	$2879
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1561	$2143
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$120	$117
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$183	$181
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$53.4	$64.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.24%	6.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2186	$2291
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2186	$2286
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$5.22	$2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39.7	$69.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$14.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.86	$1.02
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.82	$3.09
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$5.44
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.01	$3.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.89	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$6.88
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17	$16
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.18	$2.55
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$1.57
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.55	$5.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.19	$5.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.27
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$3.18
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.55	$1.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.83	$2.46
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.8	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.95	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.59	$9.14
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.18	$9.29
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$6.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.46	$4.44
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.02	$1.72
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.2	$44
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.1	$12
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$105	$126
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.7	$19.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$61.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$118
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1389	$1364
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25323	$15986

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Arlington

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.2 mi	Grand Prairie	$2127
14 km or 8.9 mi	Mansfield	$2302
15 km or 9.6 mi	Hurst	$2127
16 km or 9.8 mi	Bedford	$2126
16 km or 10 mi	Euless	$2114
19 km or 12 mi	Haltom	$2145
19 km or 12 mi	North Richland Hills	$2141
20 km or 12 mi	Irving	$2114
20 km or 13 mi	Colleyville	$2124
21 km or 13 mi	Fort Worth	$2219
21 km or 13 mi	Duncanville	$2198
21 km or 13 mi	Cedar Hill	$2195
22 km or 14 mi	Watauga	$2128
26 km or 16 mi	Grapevine	$2076
27 km or 17 mi	Burleson	$2175
27 km or 17 mi	Keller	$2105
27 km or 17 mi	Southlake	$2129
27 km or 17 mi	DeSoto	$2193
28 km or 17 mi	Midlothian	$2193
29 km or 18 mi	Saginaw	$2152
30 km or 18 mi	Coppell	$2142
30 km or 19 mi	Dallas	$2461
31 km or 19 mi	Benbrook	$2155
34 km or 21 mi	Farmers Branch	$2190
35 km or 21 mi	Lancaster	$2212
35 km or 22 mi	University Park	$2258
37 km or 23 mi	Flower Mound	$2135
38 km or 24 mi	Carrollton	$2188
39 km or 24 mi	Lewisville	$2076
43 km or 27 mi	Waxahachie	$2196
47 km or 29 mi	Cleburne	$2177
48 km or 30 mi	Balch Springs	$2208
48 km or 30 mi	Richardson	$2246
48 km or 30 mi	The Colony	$2233
49 km or 30 mi	Mesquite	$2147
49 km or 30 mi	Corinth	$2177
51 km or 32 mi	Garland	$2357
52 km or 32 mi	Plano	$2127
54 km or 33 mi	Little Elm	$2225
56 km or 35 mi	Frisco	$2393

Cities near Virginia Beach

Distance	City	Cost of living
26 km or 16 mi	Norfolk	$2385
29 km or 18 mi	Chesapeake	$2335
33 km or 20 mi	Portsmouth	$2354
40 km or 25 mi	Hampton	$2703
51 km or 32 mi	Newport News	$2233
58 km or 36 mi	Suffolk	$2367
96 km or 60 mi	Kill Devil Hills	$2065
127 km or 79 mi	Hopewell	$2385
133 km or 82 mi	Petersburg	$2378
152 km or 95 mi	Richmond	$2379
156 km or 97 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2056
171 km or 106 mi	Salisbury	$1944
187 km or 116 mi	Greenville	$2057
192 km or 119 mi	Rocky Mount	$1780
208 km or 129 mi	Fredericksburg	$2372
215 km or 133 mi	Wilson	$2003
215 km or 134 mi	Waldorf	$2522
216 km or 134 mi	New Bern	$1847
225 km or 140 mi	Henderson	$2111
227 km or 141 mi	Kinston	$2088
228 km or 142 mi	Marumsco	$2588
229 km or 142 mi	Woodbridge	$2681
234 km or 146 mi	Havelock	$1969
237 km or 147 mi	Alexandria	$2877
240 km or 149 mi	Springfield	$2379
240 km or 149 mi	Annapolis	$2951
243 km or 151 mi	Goldsboro	$1773
244 km or 152 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2581
245 km or 152 mi	Bowie	$2544
246 km or 153 mi	Washington	$3306
247 km or 154 mi	Wake Forest	$2194
247 km or 154 mi	Georgetown	$3030
249 km or 155 mi	Manassas	$2453
251 km or 156 mi	Fairfax	$2818
251 km or 156 mi	Greenbelt	$2650
253 km or 157 mi	College Park	$2777
255 km or 158 mi	Lower Township	$2619
256 km or 159 mi	Centreville	$3292
256 km or 159 mi	Silver Spring	$2252
256 km or 159 mi	Bethesda	$2763