Cost of Living & Housing in Gloucester
Gloucester runs genuinely affordable on both housing and property tax relative to the broader Hampton Roads region, though its combined sales tax rate is a real, disclosed outlier above Virginia's statewide floor.
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Learn moreHome prices: affordable, with a real source spread
Redfin cites a $396,000 county-wide median sale price for Gloucester County as of November 2025, up 4.3% year over year, with a median price per square foot of $220. Zillow's ZIP-level reading runs somewhat lower, at $383,176 (up 3.4% YoY) (base record). Both figures are genuinely below typical Hampton Roads/Historic Triangle pricing across the York River, consistent with Gloucester's quieter, more rural Middle Peninsula market.
Property tax: a genuine strength
Gloucester County's 2026 real estate tax rate is $0.583 per $100 of assessed value -- roughly a 0.58% effective rate, well below the national median of approximately 1.02% (base record). A separate reading cites a median annual property tax bill of $1,257 on a median home value of $228,100 in the county.
Sales tax: a real, documented outlier
Gloucester County's combined sales tax rate is 6.3% -- 4.3% Virginia state rate, 1.0% county local rate, plus an additional 1.0% special tax. Gloucester County is one of only three Virginia localities (along with Danville and Northampton County) levying this specific extra local special tax outside the standard regional-transportation zones, notably above Virginia's 5.30% statewide sales-tax floor (base record).
Flood insurance: real, community-specific figures
As a Chesapeake Bay/Middle Peninsula coastal community, Gloucester carries real, moderate flood risk. Its own NFIP flood policy data shows 1,535 active policies with an average annual premium of $816 -- a real, community-specific figure, generally less severe than Hampton Roads' more urbanized harbor-city exposure documented elsewhere in this dataset (base record). Get an address-specific flood-zone determination before buying near the water.
Key takeaways
- Home prices run affordable relative to Hampton Roads: $383K-$396K depending on source (Zillow vs. Redfin, ZIP-level vs. county-wide).
- Property tax is a genuine strength at roughly 0.58% effective, well below the national median.
- Combined sales tax runs 6.3%, a real, documented outlier above Virginia's 5.30% statewide floor -- Gloucester is one of only three VA localities levying this specific extra local tax.
- Flood insurance averages $816/year across 1,535 active NFIP policies -- real, moderate Chesapeake Bay coastal risk, generally less severe than Hampton Roads exposure.
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