Moving to Virginia from Louisiana
What to Expect
Considering a move from Louisiana to Virginia? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Louisiana to Virginia, you would find that Virginia is 23.4% more expensive than Louisiana. A $75,000 salary in Louisiana would need to be roughly $92,500 in Virginia to maintain the same lifestyle. New Orleans and Virginia Beach are about 940 mi apart.
Is Virginia cheaper than Louisiana?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 9.3% more
Groceries
pay 15.5% more
Transportation
pay 12.3% more
Housing
pay 32.8% more
Childcare
pay 87.0% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 21.1% more
Data: MyLifeElsewhere's crowdsourced cost of living database, with prices submitted and updated by users worldwide. Exchange rates are refreshed regularly from public sources.
What salary do you need in Virginia?
What does your salary buy?
$75,000 → $92,500
To maintain the same standard of living in Virginia
Calculate with your salary →Cost of living by city
Cost of living varies a lot by city. Each figure is a city's overall cost of living as a percentage of New York City (the priciest, = 100%).
On average, cities in Virginia cost about 18% more than cities in Louisiana.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Virginia compared to Louisiana.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all safety metrics.
How's the healthcare?
share of people without health insurance
share of adults with obesity
share of adults with diabetes
share of adults who smoke
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Louisiana performs better than Virginia across all what about housing? metrics.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Louisiana generally does better on infrastructure, though Virginia leads in internet access.
What are the job prospects?
percentage of the labour force without work
a broad measure of economic output per person
typical annual income of a household
share of people below the poverty line
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all employment & economy metrics.
Is it good for families?
average years of life at birth
share of adults with a 4-year college degree
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all family life metrics.
Sources: US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) (2023), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PLACES) (2022), FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (2023), Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025), Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024), OECD Regional Demography (2020). How we calculate this
Weather in Virginia vs Louisiana
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | New Orleans | Richmond |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 65°/51°F (18°/10°C) | 53°/32°F (12°/0°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 84°/70°F (29°/21°C) | 78°/55°F (26°/13°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 89°/77°F (32°/25°C) | 86°/65°F (30°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 71°/57°F (21°/14°C) | 61°/39°F (16°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | New Orleans | Richmond |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 60°/46°F (15.6°/8.0°C) | 47°/28°F (8.6°/-2.1°C) |
| Feb | 64°/50°F (17.9°/9.9°C) | 51°/31°F (10.7°/-0.8°C) |
| Mar | 71°/56°F (21.4°/13.3°C) | 60°/37°F (15.6°/2.8°C) |
| Apr | 77°/63°F (25.2°/17.1°C) | 70°/46°F (21.3°/7.8°C) |
| May | 85°/71°F (29.2°/21.5°C) | 78°/55°F (25.5°/12.8°C) |
| Jun | 89°/76°F (31.8°/24.4°C) | 86°/65°F (30.1°/18.1°C) |
| Jul | 90°/78°F (32.5°/25.5°C) | 90°/69°F (32.1°/20.5°C) |
| Aug | 91°/78°F (32.7°/25.7°C) | 88°/67°F (30.9°/19.7°C) |
| Sep | 87°/75°F (30.4°/23.7°C) | 81°/60°F (27.3°/15.6°C) |
| Oct | 79°/66°F (25.9°/18.9°C) | 71°/48°F (21.7°/9.1°C) |
| Nov | 71°/57°F (21.5°/13.7°C) | 61°/39°F (16.3°/4.1°C) |
| Dec | 63°/49°F (17.0°/9.3°C) | 51°/31°F (10.4°/-0.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Virginia than Louisiana?
On average Virginia is around 23% pricier than Louisiana, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Virginia?
Budget about $23,125 for 3 months in Virginia (based on a $75,000 comparable annual salary), then add the one-off costs: movers, a truck rental, and a rental deposit.
Is Virginia safe?
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Virginia compared to Louisiana?
Virginia performs significantly better than Louisiana across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Virginia compared to Louisiana?
The average high temperature in Richmond is 70°F, compared to 77°F in New Orleans. Richmond receives around 43.6 in of rainfall per year, while New Orleans gets 56.8 in.
