Provo vs Richmond
Metro-area medians — Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT Metro Area vs Richmond, VA Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Provo and Richmond are evenly matched, each taking 4 of the clearly-decided measures.
Provo and Richmond cost about the same to live in, but Provo households earn about 21% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Provo.
Their widest everyday difference: Richmond has the tighter job market — 3.8% unemployment versus 4.2%.
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, Richmond leaves you about $30/yr better off after tax and local prices.
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.
Choose Provo for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Average commute
Choose Richmond for
- + Median rent
- + Median home value
- + Unemployment
- + Air quality (median AQI)
More comparisons
Metros closest to Provo and Richmond on cost, income, size, and education.
Provo vs Richmond — frequently asked
- Is Provo cheaper than Richmond?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Provo and Richmond metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Provo or Richmond?
- Provo has the higher median household income — $101,014 versus $83,460 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 21% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Provo or Richmond?
- A paycheck stretches further in Provo. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $102,832 there versus $85,287 in Richmond.
- Which has cheaper rent, Provo or Richmond?
- Richmond has cheaper rent — a median of $1,546/mo versus $1,611/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).