Virginia Beach composite
57.2 /100
Grade C- · weighted across 7 dims
2026 data Public-data reference. 11 dimensions compared
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC vs Winchester, VA-WV
Side-by-side comparison across cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare, and environment — sourced entirely from U.S. federal data, no crowdsourced estimates.
Virginia Beach vs Winchester: composite livability scores
Virginia Beach and Winchester differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Virginia Beach has a cost-of-living index of 97.9 vs Winchester's 96.5 (national average = 100). A 2-bedroom averages $1,287/mo vs $1,573/mo.
Reading the Virginia Beach vs Winchester Comparison
Virginia Beach (VA) and Winchester (VA) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline — BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators — so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 97.9 for Virginia Beach against 96.5 for Winchester, a 1.5-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent — the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards — is $1,287/mo in Virginia Beach and $1,573/mo in Winchester, a $286/mo difference that compounds to $3,432 over a year.
Wage data is reported by metro delineation, and one of these metros is missing a BLS record for the latest OES cycle; the salary columns below fall back to available years. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 222.8 per 100,000 residents in VA vs 222.8 in VA, with property-crime rates of 1590.1 and 1590.1 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: VA lists 1,869 public schools at a 14.0:1 student-teacher ratio, while VA lists 1,869 schools at 14.0:1 — a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. Department of Labor center-based infant care runs $10,407/yr in the Virginia Beach area versus $10,407/yr in Winchester — a line item that shifts the real cost-of-living picture for households with children under five far more than headline RPP does. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Virginia Beach and Winchester are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" — they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Winchester composite
52.6 /100
Grade D · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
1.5 pts
Virginia Beach vs Winchester BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$286 /mo
Winchester priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach composite (Grade C-)
Winchester
Winchester composite (Grade D)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living PlainCost →
| Category | Virginia Beach | Winchester |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 97.9 | 96.5 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.7 |
| Services | 89.6 | 89.7 |
| Rents | 99.8 | 90.0 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Winchester gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Virginia Beach?
$
Equivalent in Winchester:
$98,478
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Virginia Beach: 97.9, Winchester: 96.5, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) PlainRent →
| Bedrooms | Virginia Beach | Winchester |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $1,121/mo | $1,133/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $1,139/mo | $1,255/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,287/mo | $1,573/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,790/mo | $1,965/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $2,159/mo | $2,639/mo |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) PlainCrime →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Virginia Beach (VA) | Winchester (VA) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 222.8 | 222.8 |
| Property Crime | 1590.1 | 1590.1 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) PlainSchools →
| Metric | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,869 | 1,869 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 14.0:1 | 14.0:1 |
| Charter Schools | 0.4% | 0.4% |
👶 Childcare Costs (Annual Avg) (state-level) PlainChildcare →
| Age Group | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Infant (Center) | $10,407/yr | $10,407/yr |
| Toddler (Center) | $8,169/yr | $8,169/yr |
| Preschool (Center) | $7,975/yr | $7,975/yr |
🌿 Environment (state-level) PlainEnviro →
| Metric | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 512 | 512 |
| Water Systems | 1,054 | 1,054 |
| Superfund Sites | 35 | 35 |
| Water Violations | 1,855 | 1,855 |
Government-verified data — Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) PlainAir →
| Metric | Virginia Beach | Winchester |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 41.0 | 41.0 |
| Good Air Days | 73.2% | 74.4% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 0 days | 1 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) PlainWater →
| Metric | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 13/100 | 13/100 |
| Total Violations | 146,670 | 146,670 |
| Health-Based Violations | 25,642 | 25,642 |
| Systems with Violations | 90.0% | 90.0% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) PlainHealthAccess →
| Metric | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 0/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 439 | 439 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) PlainHazard →
| Metric | VA | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 85/100 | 85/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 33.3 | 33.3 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 34.1 | 34.1 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Virginia Beach more expensive than Winchester? ▼
Virginia Beach has a cost of living index of 97.9 compared to Winchester's 96.5 (national average = 100). Virginia Beach is 1.5 points above Winchester on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Virginia Beach and Winchester? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,287/mo in Virginia Beach vs $1,573/mo in Winchester, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $1,121/mo to $1,133/mo.
How do salaries compare between Virginia Beach and Winchester? ▼
Wage data is not available for one or both metros.
Is Virginia Beach or Winchester safer? ▼
At the state level, VA has a violent crime rate of 222.8 per 100,000 residents compared to VA's 222.8 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1590.1 vs 1590.1 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Virginia Beach and Winchester? ▼
VA has 1,869 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 14.0:1, while VA has 1,869 schools at 14.0:1. Charter schools make up 0.4% of VA schools vs 0.4% in VA. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
Explore Further
Virginia Beach Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Winchester Cost of Living
BEA Regional Price Parity breakdown
Virginia Beach Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Winchester Rent Data
HUD Fair Market Rents by bedroom
Virginia Beach Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
Winchester Schools
NCES school profiles and demographics
VA Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
VA Crime Data
FBI UCR crime statistics
Relocate Virginia Beach to Winchester
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Relocate Winchester to Virginia Beach
7-dimension relocation intelligence
Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Related
Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial