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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Tucson to Virginia Beach

Tucson, AZ vs Virginia Beach, VA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $262 a month in Tucson.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is Census rent. Census median gross rent differs by $256, with Virginia Beach higher.

Arizona taxes wages at a flat 2.50%. Virginia taxes wages at rates up to 5.75%. Combined sales tax differs by 2.7 percentage points, higher in Arizona. The effective property tax gap is 0.28 percentage points, higher in Virginia.

After a move from Arizona to Virginia, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Tucson lines up with about $75,809 in Virginia Beach on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Tucson

Tucson, AZ

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,405
HUD area
Tucson, AZ MSA
Census median gross rent
$1,300
All-items price parity
96.9
Goods price parity
96.2
Utilities price parity
89.5
Mean commute
24.8 min
Median household income
$72,067

Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,667
HUD area
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,556
All-items price parity
97.9
Goods price parity
96.8
Utilities price parity
89.6
Mean commute
25.5 min
Median household income
$82,402

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$75,809

Salary in Virginia Beach that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$78,837

Gross salary in Virginia Beach whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$88,986

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxArizonaVirginia
State income tax on wages2.50% flatup to 5.75%
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20268.5%5.8%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median0.43%0.71%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $1,716 a year in Arizona and $2,847 in Virginia. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Virginia

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Arizona and once in Virginia. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • WIC

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • School meals

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    TucsonMaybe

    Virginia BeachMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    TucsonUnlikely

    Virginia BeachUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    TucsonLikely eligible

    Virginia BeachLikely eligible

  • SSI

    TucsonUnlikely

    Virginia BeachUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Virginia · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Tucson

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Tucson.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.