($1,344) Movers From Charleston, WV to Virginia Beach, VA

What to know before moving from Charleston to Virginia Beach

Moving from Charleston to Virginia Beach comes with exciting new opportunities — but also higher living costs. Since Virginia Beach is generally more expensive than Charleston, it’s important to plan ahead and budget carefully for the change.

Check out how the two cities compare so you know what to expect before you relocate:

• Rent prices in Virginia Beach are 123% higher than in Charleston, which means you’ll have less money in your pocket each month.
• In terms of homeownership, you’ll be able to get more for your money in Charleston.
  Home prices in Virginia Beach are 161.9% higher than in Charleston.
• Income in Virginia Beach is 37.8% higher than in Charleston, so you could earn more for doing the same job. The top employers in Virginia Beach include Stihl, Navy Exchange, and Venture Realty Group.
• Be sure to budget for higher bills in Virginia Beach, since the cost of living for a single person in Virginia Beach is 192.6% higher than in Charleston. This includes routine expenses like utilities, groceries, clothing, and transportation.
• If you’re moving your family to Virginia Beach, keep in mind that your living expenses could increase. The cost of living for a family in Virginia Beach is 53.0% higher than in Charleston.
• The unemployment rate in Virginia Beach is 22.58% lower than in Charleston.
• You’ll spend less on retail and restaurants in Virginia Beach, since the city’s sales taxes in Virginia Beach are 14.29% lower than in Charleston.
• One perk of moving to Virginia Beach is paying less in state income taxes, which are 11.54% lower than in Charleston.

To put this in perspective, you would need around $8,779.21 in Virginia Beach to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $3,000.00 in Charleston.

How life is different in Charleston vs. Virginia Beach

• The population of Virginia Beach is about 853% greater than Charleston, so you may find more to see and do in your new surroundings. Of course, with more people can also come increased competition for jobs and housing.
• Virginia Beach offers better access to buses and trains than Charleston, based on public transportation ratings. Virginia Beach has a transit score of 3 out of 10 compared to 2 in Charleston. The higher the score, the more public transportation pickup and dropoff locations a city provides.
• You’ll find Virginia Beach to be about as walkable as Charleston. The two cities have similar walkability scores of 33 and 33 respectively out of 100 in terms of how close housing is to businesses, recreational facilities, and jobs.
• If cycling is your thing, Virginia Beach is considered more bike-friendly than Charleston in terms of designated lanes and connectivity and how many residents opt to commute on two wheels rather than by car. Virginia Beach has a bike-friendliness score of 42 out of 100, while Charleston is rated as 28 out of 100.
• Virginia Beach has a lower crime rate than Charleston based on scores of 42.0 and Charleston's 53.94, respectively. The crime index shows how safe a city is perceived to be. So, a lower score generally means less crime.
• You might find more confidence in your overall safety in Virginia Beach than in Charleston, based on Virginia Beach’s safety index of 58.0 versus 46.06 for Charleston. With this index, higher scores indicate more safety, particularly around how comfortable residents feel walking alone during the day and at night.
• The air quality in Virginia Beach and Charleston is generally the same (Good). Cities with good to moderate ratings have clean or acceptable air quality, with the possibility of small pollutants affecting people with certain health conditions like asthma. Anything beyond the moderate rate means increased impact on residents.