Overall
- St. George
- 97.3
Diff -0.6 RPP
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk vs St. George
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. St. George is 0.6% less expensive than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk.
0.6% less expensive
St. George, UT is 0.6% less expensive than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 97.3 vs 97.9). A $100,000 salary in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk buys about the same as $99,367 in St. George; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 97.9 (Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk) vs 97.3 (St. George)
- $100k in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk ≈ $99,367 purchasing power in St. George
- Services drives the gap (-11.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair VA:UT 97.9→97.3
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SERVICES-LED · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE VA × UT
- SERVICES-LED Services-led gap
- 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.
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk
97.9
Cost Index
St. George
97.3
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC and St. George, UT are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.6 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services leads the difference, with St. George 11.9 points lower than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk. Goods, services, and rents all point in the same broad direction, making the headline comparison more transferable across household types.
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 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk to $99,367 in St. George, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- St. George
- 96.4
Diff -0.3 RPP
Services
- St. George
- 77.7
Diff -11.9 RPP
Rents
- St. George
- 98.1
Diff -1.7 RPP
| Category | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk | St. George | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97.9 | 97.3 | -0.6 |
| Goods | 96.8 | 96.4 | -0.3 |
| Services | 89.6 | 77.7 | -11.9 |
| Rents | 99.8 | 98.1 | -1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 97.9
St. George 97.3
Goods
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 96.8
St. George 96.4
Services
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 89.6
St. George 77.7
Rents
Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk 99.8
St. George 98.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk would need to be in St. George for the same purchasing power:
| In Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk | In St. George | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,683 | $-317 |
| $75,000 | $74,525 | $-475 |
| $100,000 | $99,367 | $-633 |
| $150,000 | $149,050 | $-950 |
$ in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk = in St. George
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (97.9 → 97.3), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is St. George more expensive than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk?
St. George is 0.6% less expensive than Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk. The overall cost index is 97.3 vs 97.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in St. George equals $100K in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk?
A $100,000 salary in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk has the same purchasing power as $99,367 in St. George. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk and St. George?
Rents in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk are indexed at 99.8 while St. George is at 98.1 (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.