Overall
Diff -0.4 RPP
Richmond vs Dover
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Dover is 0.4% less expensive than Richmond.
0.4% less expensive
Dover, DE is 0.4% less expensive than Richmond, VA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.5 vs 97.9). A $100,000 salary in Richmond buys about the same as $99,641 in Dover; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.9 (Richmond) vs 97.5 (Dover)
- $100k in Richmond ≈ $99,641 purchasing power in Dover
- Services drives the gap (+8.0 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:DE 97.9→97.5
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE VA × DE
- 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.
Richmond
97.9
Cost Index
Dover
97.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Richmond, VA and Dover, DE are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.4 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Dover is 8.0 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 service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Richmond to $99,641 in Dover, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff -0.4 RPP
Services
Diff +8.0 RPP
Rents
Diff -3.2 RPP
| Category | Richmond | Dover | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.9 | 97.5 | -0.4 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.4 | -0.4 |
| Services | 89.2 | 97.2 | +8.0 |
| Rents | 99.1 | 95.9 | -3.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Richmond 97.9
Dover 97.5
Goods
Richmond 96.8
Dover 96.4
Services
Richmond 89.2
Dover 97.2
Rents
Richmond 99.1
Dover 95.9
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Richmond and Dover share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 1.3 to 0.4 RPP points. Richmond remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 15.5 points between the first and latest shared releases (23.5 to 8.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Richmond RPP | Dover RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 98.1 | 96.8 | 1.3 points Richmond higher |
| 2012 | 98.6 | 97.3 | 1.3 points Richmond higher |
| 2016 | 99.3 | 100.3 | 1.0 points Dover higher |
| 2020 | 95.9 | 93.9 | 2.0 points Richmond higher |
| 2024 | 97.9 | 97.5 | 0.4 points Richmond higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Richmond would need to be in Dover for the same purchasing power:
| In Richmond | In Dover | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,821 | $-179 |
| $75,000 | $74,731 | $-269 |
| $100,000 | $99,641 | $-359 |
| $150,000 | $149,462 | $-538 |
$ in Richmond = in Dover
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.9 → 97.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Dover more expensive than Richmond?
Dover is 0.4% less expensive than Richmond. The overall cost index is 97.5 vs 97.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Dover equals $100K in Richmond?
A $100,000 salary in Richmond has the same purchasing power as $99,641 in Dover. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Richmond and Dover?
Rents in Richmond are indexed at 99.1 while Dover is at 95.9 (national average = 100). Richmond 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.