Cost Of Living in Amherst, VA

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Amherst	Virginia	National
Cost of living	94	109	100
Goods & Services	96	100	100
Groceries	96	101	100
Health care	102	99	100
Housing	87	130	100
Transportation	88	95	100
Utilities	113	104	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Amherst is 13% lower than the Virginia average
The cost of living in Amherst is 6% lower than the national average
Amherst housing is 13% lower than the national average
Virginia general sales tax is 4% higher than the national average
Virginia state income tax is 23% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$72,500	$6,042	$1,692	$2,175
Renters	$35,000	$2,917	$817	$1,050

Virginia Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Virginia	5.3%	6%

Virginia Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Virginia	2%	5.75%

Goods & Services

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$24.89	$24.26	2.6%
Beauty Salon	$53.95	$45.56	18.4%
Toothpaste	$3.79	$3.70	2.3%
Shampoo	$1.34	$1.28	4.6%
Movie	$13.59	$12.13	12.0%
Bowling	$18.42	$18.00	2.3%

Groceries

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.32	$5.84	8.8%
Fried Chicken	$1.32	$1.57	16.1%
Milk	$4.70	$4.67	0.7%
Potatoes	$5.17	$4.93	4.7%
Pizza	$12.24	$12.09	1.3%
Beer	$10.69	$10.41	2.7%

Health Care

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$136.88	$125.68	8.9%
Doctor	$139.83	$135.78	3.0%
Dentist	$105.92	$113.29	6.5%
Ibuprofen	$10.61	$10.65	0.4%
Lipitor	$387.25	$468.60	17.4%

Housing

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$180,600.00	$184,700.00	2.2%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,606.96	$2,346.69	11.1%
Apartment Rent	$590.00	$949.00	37.8%

Transportation

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.36	$3.46	2.8%
Tire Balancing	$50.24	$59.92	16.1%

Utilities

Item	Amherst	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$213.27	$193.99	9.9%
Phone	$184.83	$192.25	3.9%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Lovingston, VA	584	101	0.9%
Shipman, VA	250	80	19.5%
Arrington, VA	782	86	14.2%
Madison Heights, VA	11,447	91	9.2%
Lynchburg, VA	80,970	95	5.0%
Amherst, VA	2,581	94	5.6%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Union, MS	2,581	79	20.9%
West Newton, PA	2,581	87	12.9%
Desert Hills, AZ	2,580	98	1.8%
North Shore, CA	2,580	103	2.6%
Bridgetown, MS	2,580	100	0.4%
Amherst, VA	2,581	94	5.6%

Date & Last Updated: This data reflects 2023 and was released from C2ER in January, 2024; this is the most current data available.

Cost of Living in Amherst, VA