Overall
- Madison
- 97.3
Diff +0.7 RPP
Madison vs Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk is 0.7% more expensive than Madison.
0.7% more expensive
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC is 0.7% more expensive than Madison, WI on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.9 vs 97.3). A $100,000 salary in Madison buys about the same as $100,672 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk; the largest component gap is goods.
- Overall RPP 97.3 (Madison) vs 97.9 (Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk)
- $100k in Madison ≈ $100,672 purchasing power in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk
- Goods drives the gap (+3.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WI:VA 97.3→97.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE WI × VA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Madison
97.3
Cost Index
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk
97.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Madison, WI and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Goods creates the largest separation: Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk is 3.0 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a goods-led difference, remember that many tradable prices vary less by address than housing or labor-priced services. Use $100,672 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk as the BEA equivalent of $100,000 in Madison, then replace the national basket with your own.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Madison
- 93.8
Diff +3.0 RPP
Services
- Madison
- 89.8
Diff -0.2 RPP
Rents
- Madison
- 99.7
Diff +0.1 RPP
| Category | Madison | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.3 | 97.9 | +0.7 |
| Goods | 93.8 | 96.8 | +3.0 |
| Services | 89.8 | 89.6 | -0.2 |
| Rents | 99.7 | 99.8 | +0.1 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Madison 97.3
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 97.9
Goods
Madison 93.8
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 96.8
Services
Madison 89.8
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 89.6
Rents
Madison 99.7
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 99.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Madison would need to be in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk for the same purchasing power:
| In Madison | In Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,336 | +$336 |
| $75,000 | $75,504 | +$504 |
| $100,000 | $100,672 | +$672 |
| $150,000 | $151,008 | +$1,008 |
$ in Madison = in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.3 → 97.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk more expensive than Madison?
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk is 0.7% more expensive than Madison. The overall cost index is 97.9 vs 97.3 (national average = 100).
What salary in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk equals $100K in Madison?
A $100,000 salary in Madison has the same purchasing power as $100,672 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Madison and Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk?
Rents in Madison are indexed at 99.7 while Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk is at 99.8 (national average = 100). Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.