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Ranked · Best value · Virginia

Best value cities in Virginia

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Best value” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

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Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Danville, VA42k residents

    66/100

    cost of living index: 78 · median home price: $119,100 · median household income: $44,423

  2. 2.Roanoke, VA98k residents

    64/100

    cost of living index: 84 · median home price: $190,500 · median household income: $55,378

  3. 3.Staunton, VA26k residents

    63/100

    cost of living index: 88 · median home price: $259,200 · median household income: $65,581

  4. 4.Lynchburg, VA79k residents

    62/100

    cost of living index: 87 · median home price: $229,800 · median household income: $57,947

  5. 5.Salem, VA26k residents

    62/100

    cost of living index: 90 · median home price: $258,600 · median household income: $66,725

  6. 6.Richmond, VA229k residents

    61/100

    cost of living index: 96 · median home price: $360,000 · median household income: $62,000

  7. 7.Petersburg, VA34k residents

    61/100

    cost of living index: 87 · median home price: $189,000 · median household income: $50,698

  8. 8.Norfolk, VA234k residents

    60/100

    cost of living index: 94 · median home price: $289,900 · median household income: $66,109

  9. 9.Newport News, VA184k residents

    60/100

    cost of living index: 93 · median home price: $260,600 · median household income: $69,634

  10. 10.Hampton, VA138k residents

    60/100

    cost of living index: 93 · median home price: $245,700 · median household income: $69,621

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is the best value in Virginia?
Danville, VA ranks first with a fit score of 66/100, followed by Roanoke (64) and Staunton (63), using the "Best value" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on cost of living index, median home price, 2-bedroom rent, median household income, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.