2026 Compare Cities Economy:
Richmond, VA vs Sunnyvale, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Sunnyvale, is 195% more than it is in Richmond and is 57% above the National Average.
- Richmond unemployment rate is 7.1%.
- Sunnyvale unemployment rate is 3.9%.
 Richmond, VASunnyvale, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock3.9%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock2.5%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$161,670$69,021
 Family Median Income$72,604  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Richmond, VASunnyvale, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock4.2%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K5.4%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock2.8%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock2.2%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K8.1%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock4.8%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.3%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock16.5%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K5.2%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock38.8%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Richmond, VASunnyvale, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance16.7%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock39.0%6.5%
 Community, social services2.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.8%1.2%
 Education, library6.9%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock1.9%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock1.8%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement2.7%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock3.2%5.4%
 Building maintenance4.0%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock1.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.1%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair6.0%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock5.9%13.1%
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 Sunnyvale    14 Reviews

At this point, I would only recommend moving to silicon valley for the job market. Sure, the weather is great and the restaurants offer huge variety. But the costs of  More

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Like previous reviewer, tech company's tyranny over city gov and quality of living has negatively impacted a fantastic place to live. Climate, while super, is grossly  More

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I've lived here for 40 years. While the weather is fabulous, For the past ten years of high density housing mostly needed to house thousands of a young up coming tech  More

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