Raleigh vs Virginia Beach - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Raleigh	Virginia Beach
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$2452
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$5516
🏠 One person rent	$1374	$1566
🏘️ Family rent	$2201	$2522
🍽️ Food expenses	$624	$615
🚐 Transport expenses	$89.7	$102
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4362	$4239
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	82	74
😀 Quality of life	89	88
🏙️ Population	468K	459K

The cost of living in Raleigh is 8% less expensive than in Virginia Beach. Cities ranked 1363rd and 978th ($2265 vs $2452) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1143rd and 841st in the United States.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Raleigh compared to 1.7 months in Virginia Beach. Ranked 54th vs 82nd best cities to live in the United States, and 219th vs 286th 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 Raleigh vs Virginia Beach

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

	Raleigh	Virginia Beach
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.3	$17.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.7	$89.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$5.98
☕ Cappuccino	$6.08	$5.88
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.82	$2.73
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1531	$1653
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1084	$1301
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2619	$2788
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1754	$2127
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$128
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$196
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.1	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.17%	5.98%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3898	$2280
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2197	$2279
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.42	$1.98
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.7	$69.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$14.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.01
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.23	$3.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$5.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.61	$4.15
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$10.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$7.89
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$18.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$2.54
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.59
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$5.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.76	$5.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$2.29
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$3.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.65	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.18	$9.08
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.2	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.45	$5.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.97	$4.48
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$1.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$43.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$12.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$124
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$19.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.7	$61.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1475	$1579
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24243	$16143

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729

Cities near Virginia Beach

Distance	City	Cost of living
26 km or 16 mi	Norfolk	$2191
29 km or 18 mi	Chesapeake	$2342
33 km or 20 mi	Portsmouth	$2191
40 km or 25 mi	Hampton	$2657
51 km or 32 mi	Newport News	$2295
58 km or 36 mi	Suffolk	$2311
96 km or 60 mi	Kill Devil Hills	$2058
127 km or 79 mi	Hopewell	$2379
133 km or 82 mi	Petersburg	$2375
152 km or 95 mi	Richmond	$2392
156 km or 97 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
171 km or 106 mi	Salisbury	$1953
187 km or 116 mi	Greenville	$2045
192 km or 119 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
208 km or 129 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
215 km or 133 mi	Wilson	$2016
215 km or 134 mi	Waldorf	$2508
216 km or 134 mi	New Bern	$1849
225 km or 140 mi	Henderson	$2116
227 km or 141 mi	Kinston	$2073
228 km or 142 mi	Marumsco	$2608
229 km or 142 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
234 km or 146 mi	Havelock	$2003
237 km or 147 mi	Alexandria	$2913
240 km or 149 mi	Springfield	$2367
240 km or 149 mi	Annapolis	$2862
243 km or 151 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
244 km or 152 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
245 km or 152 mi	Bowie	$2596
246 km or 153 mi	Washington	$3350
247 km or 154 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
247 km or 154 mi	Georgetown	$3031
249 km or 155 mi	Manassas	$2379
251 km or 156 mi	Fairfax	$2803
251 km or 156 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
253 km or 157 mi	College Park	$3016
255 km or 158 mi	Lower Township	$2644
256 km or 159 mi	Centreville	$3338
256 km or 159 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
256 km or 159 mi	Bethesda	$2769