2026 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Richmond, VA vs Bloomington, IL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Bloomington or is it cheaper to live in Richmond?
- Bloomington is 13.8% less expensive than Richmond.

Which city has more affordable housing, Bloomington or Richmond?
- Bloomington housing costs are 34.6% less expensive than Richmond housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Richmond or is Health Care more affordable in Bloomington.
- Health related expenses are 9.9% more in Bloomington.
 Richmond, VABloomington, ILUnited States
 Overall  Unlock82.1100
 Food & Groceries98.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock109.0100
 Housing96.9  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$208,600$338,100
 Utilities99  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock67.4100
 Miscellaneous136.2  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Lived here for a year and it’s not perfect but it’s constantly improving now (areas redevloped, more businesses, job growth). Cost of living is great compared to  More

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Over 5 years ago

We love Richmond so much that when we talk about where we'd like to live if we could live anywhere in the US, we always come back to RVA. We live in the city proper  More

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Over 5 years ago

I'm an out-of-towner but am coming up on 1 year in Richmond. I would summarize it this way: the best thing and the worst thing about Richmond is its location. I'll  More

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Reviews for Bloomington    18 Reviews

If you're not from here it might be hard to figure out that Bloomington and Normal are actually one city mushed together, so make sure you look up info on Normal, IL  More

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Over 12 years ago

Bloomington-Normal as a city is full of resturants and movie theaters. The downtown bar scene is dominated by ISU, IWU, and HCC students. The colleges can have some fun  More

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Bloomington-Normal as a city is full of resturants and movie theaters. The downtown bar scene is dominated by ISU, IWU, and HCC students. The colleges can have some fun  More

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