Richmond, VA
Richmond, VA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Richmond, VA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Richmond ranks 96th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 85th for income. A household earns $83,460 a year while median rent runs $1,546/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 2% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (27th of 300), while commute is the soft spot (225th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 219th and home prices 203rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Richmond, your take-home is worth about $59,011 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 85th of 300↑22.2%$83,460
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 191st of 30098 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $85,287
- Per-capita income
- $47,404
- Full-time pay
- $50,163
Housing
- Median rent
- 219th of 300↑33.9%$1,546/mo
- Home value
- 203rd of 300↑50.5%$378,100
- Property tax
- $2,681/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 5.77%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 92nd of 3003.8%
- Bachelor's+
- 50th of 30042.9%
- Avg commute
- 225th of 30026.6 min
People
- Population
- 1,368,219
- Population change
- +6%
- Median age
- 39.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 9.4%
- Broadband
- 92.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 116th of 30044
- Natural-hazard loss
- 27th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 119th of 30017.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 8.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Commute
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — richmond intl ap.
What jobs pay in Richmond
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $208,750
- IT managers
- $180,640
- Financial managers
- $173,140
- Pharmacists
- $144,940
- Lawyers
- $144,910
- Software developers
- $132,120
- Web developers
- $117,090
- General & operations managers
- $108,670
- Registered nurses
- $93,580
- Civil engineers
- $91,300
- Accountants & auditors
- $84,220
- Police officers
- $62,720
- Secondary school teachers
- $62,000
- Plumbers
- $61,480
- Electricians
- $61,350
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,290
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,190
- Carpenters
- $51,870
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,730
- Customer service reps
- $42,660
- Construction laborers
- $42,410
- Waiters & waitresses
- $38,470
- Janitors
- $34,200
- Retail salespersons
- $33,580
- Cashiers
- $30,350
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Richmond metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Virginia are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- North Carolina3,196
- Florida2,410
- New York2,341
- Maryland2,177
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Richmond
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Richmond metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Richmond metro?
- Median gross rent across the Richmond, VA Metro Area is $1,546 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Richmond.
- What is the median household income in the Richmond metro?
- A typical household in the Richmond, VA Metro Area earns $83,460 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Richmond expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Richmond, VA Metro Area runs about 2% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Richmond metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $85,287 (versus its face value of $83,460). CityLedger rates the Richmond, VA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Richmond metro?
- The median home value across the Richmond, VA Metro Area is $378,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Richmond metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Richmond, VA Metro Area is 3.8% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).