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

Staunton housing costs at a glance

Median gross rent, meaning contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities, runs $859, $991 and $1,248 a month for one, two and three bedrooms across Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA. The largest of those is 45% more than the smallest.

On the ownership side, the typical owner-occupied home is valued at $284,500. With median household income at $73,544, a typical home costs 3.9× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Staunton's overall prices at 91.1 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $109,736 would elsewhere.

Income needed for each grade in Staunton

The salary lines for a two-bedroom household land at $30,000 for Tight, $60,000 for Okay and $120,000 for Comfortable. The gap between the Okay and Comfortable lines alone is $60,000, which says how much extra income it takes to make housing feel roomy here rather than merely workable.

Reaching Royal takes $295,000 — 2.5× 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 Staunton shows the matching grade.

Scores at $50K, $75K, $100K and $150K in Staunton

Choosing a bigger place in Staunton at $75,000 trims the score from 54 to 48 without leaving Okay.

The two-bedroom column turns Comfortable at the $150,000 row. One row up, $100,000 scores 60.

How Staunton ranks among 387 metros

On price level Staunton is 266th of 387 (1 = most expensive); on two-bedroom rent it is 301st, and on median home value 170th. Rent and overall prices don't line up exactly, with prices near the middle and rent in the bottom quarter.

Next to Staunton on the national rent ranking: Springfield, IL ($991) and Fargo, ND-MN ($985).

Staunton in a Virginia context

How Staunton stacks up against its state: $991 for a two-bedroom against Virginia's $1,481, $284,500 for the median home against $383,700, and a price level of 91.1 against 101.1.

On statewide medians, a two-bedroom budget reaches Comfortable at $216,000 — above Staunton's $120,000 line.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Virginia? Roanoke, VA, Lynchburg, VA, and Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

Staunton's median income on the scale

The median household in the metro earns $73,544 (ACS 2020-2024). Run through the calculator with two bedrooms, that scores 51, Okay. That falls $46,456 short of the $120,000 Comfortable line, a reminder that the typical household here spends a larger share on housing than the Comfortable band allows. For Virginia as a whole, the median household income of $93,170 scores 41 against statewide rents. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Treat every number here as a pre-tax, public-data estimate rather than financial advice.