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

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Highlights
- Household income in Richmond, is 45% less than it is in Santa Monica and is 26% below the National Average.
- Santa Monica unemployment rate is 7.9%.
- Richmond unemployment rate is 7.1%.
 Santa Monica, CARichmond, VAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock7.1%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.8%1.6%
 Future Job Growth33.0%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes10.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock5.8%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$80,830  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$54,795$69,021
 Family Median Income$137,253  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Monica, CARichmond, VAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock14.1%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K2.7%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock9.1%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.5%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.7%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock9.3%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K9.1%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock11.7%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K11.6%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.5%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Monica, CARichmond, VAUnited States
 Management, business, finance30.6%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock7.1%6.5%
 Community, social services1.6%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.9%1.2%
 Education, library5.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock3.2%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.2%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.6%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.9%5.4%
 Building maintenance1.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.1%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support15.6%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.2%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair2.5%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.2%13.1%
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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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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