2026 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Richmond, VA vs Santa Rosa, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Santa Rosa or is it cheaper to live in Richmond?
- Santa Rosa is 59.5% more expensive than Richmond.

Which city has more affordable housing, Santa Rosa or Richmond?
- Santa Rosa housing costs are 131.1% more expensive than Richmond housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Richmond or is Health Care more affordable in Santa Rosa.
- Health related expenses are 11.2% more in Santa Rosa.
 Richmond, VASanta Rosa, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock151.8100
 Food & Groceries98.0  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock110.3100
 Housing96.9  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$666,900$338,100
 Utilities99  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock103.6100
 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 Santa Rosa    43 Reviews

I was born and raised here. Santa Rosa used to be a great city great location great weather but now it is overcrowded and crime is off the charts and housing is crazy  More

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I've lived her over 20 years and it's a pretty nice place. The main vibe is you feel safe doing this day or night. Most of the neighborhoods are well taken care of, they  More

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Terrible city that's hurting for money. After going on a long hiatus from enforcing traffic laws, they've recently turned their highways into an ATM machine/cash cow by  More

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