What salary do you need to live in Charlottesville, VA?

Charlottesville housing costs at a glance

Renters in Charlottesville pay a median $1,619 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $1,500, three bedrooms $1,680, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $2,160 a year.

The median value of owner-occupied homes in the metro is $430,300. With median household income at $93,598, a typical home costs 4.6× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

Prices overall are close to average. BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 99.1 against a US baseline of 100, so $100,000 here buys roughly $100,861 worth of the national basket.

Income needed for each grade in Charlottesville

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $57,000 for Tight, $113,000 for Okay and $228,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $115,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Reaching Royal takes $679,000 — 3.0× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

Nothing here is a separate rule of thumb; plug any of these incomes into the calculator with two bedrooms and Charlottesville shows the matching grade.

Four salaries, three home sizes in Charlottesville

At $75,000 home size barely changes the picture: one, two and three bedrooms all grade Tight, with scores from 33 to 34.

In Charlottesville the table's top salary of $150,000 stops at Okay (53) for two bedrooms; Comfortable starts higher, at $228,000.

Where Charlottesville falls nationally

Out of 387 metros, Charlottesville has the 97th highest price parity and the 45th highest two-bedroom rent, which puts it near the middle on overall prices and in the most expensive quarter on rent.

Next to Charlottesville on the national rent ranking: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL ($1,621) and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL ($1,617).

Charlottesville vs. the rest of Virginia

How Charlottesville stacks up against its state: $1,619 for a two-bedroom against Virginia's $1,481, $430,300 for the median home against $383,700, and a price level of 99.1 against 101.1.

The Virginia figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $216,000 against $228,000 for Charlottesville.

Within Virginia, the metros closest to Charlottesville on rent and overall prices are Richmond, VA, Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC, and Winchester, VA-WV. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $190,000, $184,000, and $178,000.

The median Charlottesville household

The median household in the metro earns $93,598 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 40, Tight. Put differently, Charlottesville's typical household is $134,402 below the $228,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. Statewide, the Virginia median household ($93,170) grades Tight on the state's own medians. Keep in mind a household median often combines two incomes.

Estimates use pre-tax income and public data; they are not financial advice.