19 Neighbor state comparisons

This chapter compares Virginia’s challenges and progress on housing affordability with its neighboring states in the South and Mid-Atlantic. The data contextualizes the Commonwealth’s current situation for a broader perspective.

19.1 Homeownership affordability

FIGURE 19.1: Neighbor state comparisons for homeowner households

Virginia ranks third out of seven states for homeowners who are cost-burdened. One in five homeowner households in Virginia were cost-burdened in 2017; in Maryland nearly one in four homeowners were cost-burdened as were barely one in four homeowners in Delaware.

Virginia had the second highest median household income for homeowners in 2019 at $91,110 and the second highest Zillow Home Value Index (a measure of the typical home value) at $318,902.

Virginia has a lower homeownership rate compared to its neighbors in the Mid-Atlantic and the South—except for North Carolina—but Virginia’s Black-white homeownership gap is narrower than it is in North Carolina.

19.2 Rental affordability

FIGURE 19.2: Neighbor state comparison for renter households

Although Virginia has relatively higher renter household incomes than a majority of its neighbors, its rents are also comparatively high.

Median renter household income—$48,085—is higher than that of Virginia’s neighbors, but it is only about half that of Virginia’s homeowner median household.