2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Richmond, VA vs Santa Monica, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Santa Monica, is 82% more than it is in Richmond and is 31% above the National Average.
- Richmond unemployment rate is 7.1%.
- Santa Monica unemployment rate is 7.9%.
 Richmond, VASanta Monica, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock7.9%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock0.7%1.6%
 Future Job Growth37.1%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes5.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$38,132  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$99,847$69,021
 Family Median Income$72,604  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Richmond, VASanta Monica, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock11.6%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K5.4%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock5.6%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock4.5%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K8.1%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock7.4%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.3%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock14.8%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K5.2%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock23.6%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Richmond, VASanta Monica, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance16.7%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock10.5%6.5%
 Community, social services2.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock4.2%1.2%
 Education, library6.9%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock10.3%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock1.6%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement2.7%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock3.3%5.4%
 Building maintenance4.0%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.3%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair6.0%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock3.1%13.1%
Reviews for Richmond    109 Reviews

Over 3 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 4 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 4 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 Santa Monica    24 Reviews

I moved here to Santa Monica over 10 years ago from Oklahoma City. I was surprised to see that Oklahoma City was ranked higher than Santa Monica on best places. I  More

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I've lived in Santa Monica for over 30 years. It's a Mediterranean climate--sunny and temperate when the rest of the country is under snow! I am walking distance to  More

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I have lived in this city for 4 decades, and it is never been worse than it is now. It is a dangerous disgusting hell hole. Between the crime, the homeless that are not  More

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