Confused about cost of living in Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: for sale, real estate)

[GoPhils]

So I've been checking out the Hampton Roads area (as well as several other places), and from reading this forum it seems like many people say the cost of living here is high. But this seems contrary to the data on this very website.

(rounded some of the numbers)
Norfolk:
Median household income: $40,000
Median house value: $200,000
Median rent: $780
Cost of living index: 87.9

Newport News:
Median household income: $45,000
Median house value: $190,000
Median rent: $810
Cost of living index: 85.6

Virginia Beach:
Median household income: $61,000
Median house value: $282,000
Median rent: $1,075
Cost of living index: 89.2

Hampton:
Median household income: $46,500
Median house value: $188,500
Median rent: $864
Cost of living index: 85.5

Doesn't seem too bad. I am originally from NJ so I guess it's all relative? Or is there something I'm missing here? Does the military skew the numbers (I'm not in the military)?

[stva]

Housing is cheaper than some areas like NJ, but the incomes are much, much lower. It is the COL compared to salaries that is killer.

[GoPhils]

Yeah but even those income numbers don't seem that bad, which is why I was wondering if the numbers were skewed somehow. I've heard people on here say that it is not uncommon for college graduates to make between $20,000-$25,000. Yes, that is low, but that isn't terribly uncommon in NJ either, where the cost of living is higher than it is Hampton Roads.

[SiestaBay]

I think a trip over to Realtor.com is in order... put in those prices and see what you come up with

You're not going to find anything good in Norfolk for $200K unless it's a small condo. Those prices will get you to the area, but not any area you'd want to be in!

[chesapeakesim]

I agree, I think those median house values are way off. Like for VA Beach it says $282K, but go on realtor.com and search for houses in Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach, VA, Real Estate Listings and Virginia Beach, VA, Single Family Home for Sale - REALTOR.com®

Not sure if that will come up right, but it is for all SFH in VA Beach (page 20 of 40 pages which represents the median). Prices are around $380K, so that is a more realistic median price. It is 6.2 times higher than median income, much higher than the generally accepted 3X rules.

Also, it is common for college grads to start at around $20K-$25K, but it is also common for people with masters and years of experience to only make $30K-$35K. You're right, it is all relative so if you are used to NJ prices it may seem cheaper to live here. But if you are looking to move here you should ask yourself, do you really want to live somewhere where COL is still high and you will make much less than NJ, or do you want to live somewhere much more affordable like Raleigh or Charlotte.

Where else are you looking? Do you have specific reasons for including HR in your list?

[hcaleman]

I was living in NJ before I moved to Dubai. I was in Morristown (Morris County) and in one of the more expensive neighborhoods. Rents and utilities were ridiculous. NJ taxes on top of that were worse.

For me salary isn't very different for my move to VA, but that may be due to me doing an internal move in my company. I think though when you're coming from an area like NJ/NY metro area almost anywhere will seem cheap in comparison.

If I compare what I'm getting to people in our offices in Charlotte or Texas then you can really see the difference since housing is considerably less in those areas. My wife however is looking for finance jobs in the Norfolk area, and there we can see if you would be here trying to find a job on the open market it's a tough sell.

[Mr Williamsburg]

I just ran a report for active listings in VA Beach. The median price for the 3799 homes listed in the MLS is $315,540

[centre]

The salaries here are very low......One job my husband had back where we came from he made 40,000 a year plus a company vehicle. Same job here.....$ 7 something an hour.

My opinion is that because there are so many retired military (that are already drawing a retirement check ) the companies pay little to nothing because of this. They don't have to live on the job's check, so it doesn't bother them... hurts the rest of us.

However, I do think the military keeps this area' economy alive.

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by chesapeakesim

Also, it is common for college grads to start at around $20K-$25K, but it is also common for people with masters and years of experience to only make $30K-$35K. You're right, it is all relative so if you are used to NJ prices it may seem cheaper to live here. But if you are looking to move here you should ask yourself, do you really want to live somewhere where COL is still high and you will make much less than NJ, or do you want to live somewhere much more affordable like Raleigh or Charlotte.

Where else are you looking? Do you have specific reasons for including HR in your list?

Thanks for the info, I guess HR may not seem as good of a fit as I first thought, but I think for now it's still on the list.

My reasons for looking here are similar to a lot of other young northerners. I think I read a post that sounded almost exactly like my situation--it seems like many women are like my girlfriend. She wants to get out of the cold and expensiveness (is that even a word?) that is NJ, and currently lives near the beach so she would like to continue to do so if possible. We were looking at several places in NC; she has family near Wilmington, and we were also checking out Charlotte, which others say has the best combination of high salaries and a low cost of living. But reading the Charlotte forum apparently their unemployment is over 10% and even higher in some surrounding areas, so the job prospects there might not be as promising as we originally thought (although I realize it is not very good anywhere right now). They mentioned that those numbers are driven up by people who move there without a job, but there's no way I'm moving anywhere unless at least one of us has a job lined up. We also had researched a few places in SC, GA, and FL, but I had suggested Hampton Roads as a compromise, since the climate is warmer than NJ but is only about a 5-6 hour drive from where we are now.

I will have an MBA in May, but wasn't really expecting to make anything over $35-40K anyway, as I don't have a whole lot of experience other than a bunch of internships. My undergrad was actually in Sport Management, but I thought getting an MBA would help my job prospects, I just wasn't expecting the economy to go down the tubes in the year it took me to get it... (although yes it was it was going down before but most people didn't realize it)

[Spazkat9696]

I just bought a very nice house in va beach for 215,00.00$ I think your median price may be skewed because of the large number of 1,000,000$ homes sitting on the market with no buyers. We kept out search under 225,000$ and we had a ton to choose from.