Cost Of Living in Columbia, 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	Columbia	Virginia	National
Cost of living	101	109	100
Goods & Services	103	100	100
Groceries	99	101	100
Health care	96	99	100
Housing	100	130	100
Transportation	93	95	100
Utilities	105	104	100

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Cost Of Living Quick Facts

The cost of living in Columbia is 8% lower than the Virginia average
The cost of living in Columbia is 1% higher than the national average
Columbia housing is equal to 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	$115,938	$9,662	$2,705	$3,478
Renters	$0	$0	$0	$0

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	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$27.97	$24.26	15.3%
Beauty Salon	$54.19	$45.56	18.9%
Toothpaste	$3.81	$3.70	2.9%
Shampoo	$1.71	$1.28	33.5%
Movie	$15.32	$12.13	26.3%
Bowling	$25.50	$18.00	41.7%

Groceries

Item	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$6.34	$5.84	8.5%
Fried Chicken	$1.41	$1.57	10.4%
Milk	$4.78	$4.67	2.4%
Potatoes	$5.33	$4.93	8.0%
Pizza	$12.47	$12.09	3.2%
Beer	$11.67	$10.41	12.1%

Health Care

Item	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$121.84	$125.68	3.1%
Doctor	$168.85	$135.78	24.4%
Dentist	$135.19	$113.29	19.3%
Ibuprofen	$11.86	$10.65	11.4%
Lipitor	$414.10	$468.60	11.6%

Housing

Item	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$184,600.00	$184,700.00	0.1%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$5,381.45	$2,346.69	129.3%
Apartment Rent	$0.00	$949.00	100.0%

Transportation

Item	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.49	$3.46	0.8%
Tire Balancing	$57.76	$59.92	3.6%

Utilities

Item	Columbia	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$201.35	$193.99	3.8%
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.
Palmyra, VA	92	101	0.9%
Goochland, VA	679	101	0.6%
Lake Monticello, VA	10,457	111	10.8%
Powhatan, VA	416	114	13.8%
Rivanna, VA	1,864	175	75.1%
Columbia, VA	102	101	0.6%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
St. George, AK	102	95	5.1%
Kingvale, CA	102	102	1.5%
Mount Laguna, CA	102	114	14.0%
Phillipsville, CA	102	112	11.6%
Hull, GA	102	92	7.6%
Columbia, VA	102	101	0.6%

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 Columbia, VA