2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Portland, ME vs Fairfax, VA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Fairfax or is it cheaper to live in Portland?
- Fairfax is 26.6% more expensive than Portland.

Which city has more affordable housing, Fairfax or Portland?
- Fairfax housing costs are 50.1% more expensive than Portland housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Portland or is Health Care more affordable in Fairfax.
- Health related expenses are 13.5% more in Fairfax.
 Portland, MEFairfax, VAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock142.4100
 Food & Groceries111.3  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock102.7100
 Housing149.1  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$654,200$338,100
 Utilities103  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock127.6100
 Miscellaneous114.3  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Portland    35 Reviews

Used to be great before the pandemic. Now people from out of state have ruined it by paying New York prices for real estate site unseen. Why would you live in Maine when  More

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Over 4 years ago

I have never lived here but the lack of Jimmy John’s is depressing and makes me wish I was deceased.  More

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Reggie · 
Over 7 years ago

I found out I was allergic to corn on the cob here. I would give Portland twelve thumbs downs if I could. My friend told me there was a subway here and I thought he  More

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Reviews for Fairfax    28 Reviews

I lived in the area for 17 years through high school until I eventually became a truck driver. Having now seen most states extensively, I wanted to fairly review what  More

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Living in Fairfax, or any of the Northern Virginia suburbs of DC, means dealing with highways that are a Gordian knot of converging lanes and overpasses, making long  More

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Over 10 years ago

The Cost of living here is high. Though the standard of living is also high, unless you're making over 50,000/year, it's difficult to both live and build any sort of  More

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