2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Richmond, VA vs Chesapeake, VA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Chesapeake or is it cheaper to live in Richmond?
- Chesapeake is 8.7% more expensive than Richmond.

Which city has more affordable housing, Chesapeake or Richmond?
- Chesapeake housing costs are 11.4% more expensive than Richmond housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Richmond or is Health Care more affordable in Chesapeake.
- Health related expenses are 5.7% more in Chesapeake.
 Richmond, VAChesapeake, VAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock103.5100
 Food & Groceries98.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock104.9100
 Housing96.9  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$359,000$338,100
 Utilities99  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock101.2100
 Miscellaneous136.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 3 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 4 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 4 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  More

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Reviews for Chesapeake    33 Reviews

I lived here in Virginia near the Cedar Rd. not so far from Tidewater Community college. If you want a great place to live to raise children, its Chesapeake  More

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I live around this area currently, in the "Hampton Roads". Which consists of Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, and Chesapeake. We're  More

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I was born in Hampton Roads and lived there for more than 65 years. We lived in the city of Chesapeake for three years from 2014-2017. Frankly, we were very glad to  More

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