City comparison
San Antonio, TX is about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) from Virginia Beach, VA in a straight line. By road, the drive is roughly 1,700 miles, or about 29 hours (about 3 days at 10 h/day) behind the wheel at highway speeds.
Driving distance is a rough estimate (great-circle × 1.25); driving time assumes a 60 mph blended average. Real trips run 10–20% longer with stops.
A direct flight from San Antonio, TX to Virginia Beach, VA takes about 2 h 47 min, covering roughly 1,400 miles in a straight line. Connecting itineraries with a layover typically add 1–3 hours.
Block-to-block estimate at ~500 mph cruise, including taxi, climb, and descent — what an airline would publish, not pure airborne time.
San Antonio, TX is on Central Time and Virginia Beach, VA is on Eastern Time — a 1-hour difference. When it's noon in San Antonio, it's 1 p.m. in Virginia Beach, which puts San Antonio 1 hours behind.
Standard-time offsets. Daylight saving applies in both cities for most of the year (exceptions: Hawaii and most of Arizona), and the gap between the two stays the same.
San Antonio has a population of 1,445,662, vs 457,900 in Virginia Beach — about 3.2× larger by population. By land area, San Antonio covers about 500 sq mi vs 245 sq mi for Virginia Beach.
Population from US Census ACS. Land area from the Census Gazetteer (city proper, excluding inland water).
Cost indices by category, with the US city average (100) marked.
Index: 100 = US city average. Lower is more affordable.
Side-by-side costs, salaries, and sub-category indices.
| Metric | San Antonio | Virginia Beach | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,189/mo | $1,568/mo | 31.9% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Median home value | $198,000 | $343,700 | 73.6% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Median household income | $59,593 | $87,544 | 46.9% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Groceries index | 94.2 | 96.9 | 2.9% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Utilities index | 83.3 | 90.0 | 8.1% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Transportation index | 96.6 | 98.8 | 2.2% higher in Virginia Beach |
| Healthcare index | 96.1 | 98.3 | 2.2% higher in Virginia Beach |
How much you'd need to earn in the other city to keep the same standard of living.
If you earn $100,000 in San Antonio, you'd need $105,198 in Virginia Beach to maintain your standard of living.
Climate, safety, and demographics side by side.
San Antonio, TX is about 4.9% cheaper overall than Virginia Beach, VA, based on our cost-of-living index. Housing costs are roughly 8% higher in Virginia Beach than in San Antonio. If you earn $80,000 in San Antonio, you'd need about $84,158 in Virginia Beach to keep the same standard of living.