Moving to Virginia from Texas
What to Expect
Considering a move from Texas to Virginia? Here's how the two compare on cost, climate, safety, and more.
If you moved from Texas to Virginia, you would find that Virginia is 18.1% more expensive than Texas. A $75,000 salary in Texas would need to be roughly $88,600 in Virginia to maintain the same lifestyle. Expect a noticeable climate shift — Richmond averages 70°F vs 80°F in Houston, making it significantly cooler. Houston and Virginia Beach are about 1,200 mi apart.
Thinking of moving to Virginia? Get a shortlist of towns in Virginia that match your priorities: size, cost, taxes, safety, disaster risk, hospitals and transport. Find my towns →Is Virginia cheaper than Texas?
How key spending categories compare
Restaurants
pay 11.4% more
Groceries
pay 24.0% more
Transportation
pay 3.7% more
Housing
pay 22.7% more
Childcare
pay 40.8% more
Entertainment and Sports
pay 17.3% 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 → $88,600
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 20% more than cities in Texas.
Compare cities head-to-head
Key Indicator Comparison
The numbers behind daily life in Virginia compared to Texas.
Is it safe?
incidents per 100,000 people per year
incidents per 100,000 people per year
Virginia performs significantly better than Texas 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 Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What about housing?
typical price of a home
typical monthly gross rent
share of homes that are owner-occupied
Texas generally does better on what about housing?, though Virginia leads in homeownership rate.
Will I have good infrastructure?
share of households with internet
minutes each way to work
Texas performs better than Virginia across all infrastructure metrics.
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 generally does better on employment & economy, though Texas leads in gdp per capita.
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 Texas 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 Texas
Monthly averages — select a city to compare.
Avg. annual high / low
Avg. annual high / low
| Months | Houston | Richmond |
|---|---|---|
| Jan–Mar | 67°/48°F (20°/9°C) | 53°/32°F (12°/0°C) |
| Apr–Jun | 86°/67°F (30°/19°C) | 78°/55°F (26°/13°C) |
| Jul–Sep | 93°/73°F (34°/23°C) | 86°/65°F (30°/19°C) |
| Oct–Dec | 73°/53°F (23°/11°C) | 61°/39°F (16°/4°C) |
View all months
| Month | Houston | Richmond |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 63°/43°F (17.2°/6.2°C) | 47°/28°F (8.6°/-2.1°C) |
| Feb | 66°/47°F (19.1°/8.1°C) | 51°/31°F (10.7°/-0.8°C) |
| Mar | 73°/53°F (22.8°/11.4°C) | 60°/37°F (15.6°/2.8°C) |
| Apr | 80°/59°F (26.4°/15.2°C) | 70°/46°F (21.3°/7.8°C) |
| May | 86°/68°F (30.2°/19.8°C) | 78°/55°F (25.5°/12.8°C) |
| Jun | 91°/73°F (33.0°/22.9°C) | 86°/65°F (30.1°/18.1°C) |
| Jul | 94°/75°F (34.3°/23.9°C) | 90°/69°F (32.1°/20.5°C) |
| Aug | 94°/75°F (34.7°/23.8°C) | 88°/67°F (30.9°/19.7°C) |
| Sep | 90°/70°F (32.1°/21.0°C) | 81°/60°F (27.3°/15.6°C) |
| Oct | 82°/61°F (27.8°/16.1°C) | 71°/48°F (21.7°/9.1°C) |
| Nov | 72°/52°F (22.5°/11.2°C) | 61°/39°F (16.3°/4.1°C) |
| Dec | 64°/45°F (17.9°/7.0°C) | 51°/31°F (10.4°/-0.3°C) |
Data:
National Weather Service
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it cheaper to live in Virginia than Texas?
On average Virginia is around 18% pricier than Texas, with notable variation by city.
How much money do I need to move to Virginia?
Budget about $22,150 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 Texas across all safety metrics.
How is healthcare in Virginia compared to Texas?
Virginia performs significantly better than Texas across all health & wellbeing metrics.
What's the weather like in Virginia compared to Texas?
The average high temperature in Richmond is 70°F, compared to 80°F in Houston. Richmond receives around 43.6 in of rainfall per year, while Houston gets 49.8 in.
