Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Newport News's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Newport News?
Your $100,000 in Newport News has the same purchasing power as $102,145 in the average US city. You'd need $2,145 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Newport News's cost index of 98, sorted by closest match.
These are the reasons people actually move to Newport News, ordered roughly by what shows up loudest in the data. On the calmer side of the national distribution and clean air, by the numbers lead, plus 1 more things worth knowing — the rest unpacked below.
Reported crime in Newport News comes in around 2,936 per 100,000 — under the national baseline of about 3,500. Worth digging into specific neighborhoods before settling on one, but the city-level picture is on the safer side.
Average AQI in Newport News comes in around 35, well into the "good" band. Clean air isn't a thing you appreciate until you've lived somewhere it wasn't — and this is the side of that line you want to be on.
Average commute time in Newport News runs around 23 minutes one-way — short enough that it doesn't restructure your day. Compared to the 45-plus-minute commutes that are normal in major metros, the difference adds up to a real lifestyle gap.
Reasons are pulled from Newport News's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 34°F, Newport News sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
A real winter, but not a punishing one. Newport News averages roughly 34°F in winter, with the coldest mornings dipping into the single digits a few times a year and most days landing somewhere between "chilly" and "actually cold".
Reliably warm. Newport News's summer averages around 85°F, the kind of heat where you remember to leave the house before noon for outdoor things and accept that the back of your shirt will be wet by lunchtime.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Newport News's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Around 46 feet (14 m) above sea level — flat enough that nothing about Newport News's altitude shows up in daily life.
Atlantic basin storms can form from June 1 to November 30, but the serious ones cluster in August, September, and the first half of October. Residents of Newport News learn the season's rhythm fast: watch the cone, board up when it's the call, and don't shrug off the slow-mover storms — those are usually the ones that flood.
Middle of the pack. Newport News comes in around 2,936 per 100,000, basically the national average. The interesting question is usually which neighborhood, not which city — that's where the real variation lives.
It's a middle-of-the-road US city on cost. Newport News's index of 98 sits within a few points of the national average — your money buys roughly what it would in a typical American metro.
Newport News's Walk Score is 2/100, firmly in the car-required tier. Transit Score is 0 out of 100. The layout assumes you'll drive to the grocery store, drive to work, drive everywhere.
As a rule of thumb, plan on about $68,530 to live in Newport News the way a $70,000 earner lives in a typical US city. The math gets less forgiving the lower you go below that. Median rent in Newport News runs about $1,209/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.