Cost of Living in Hampton
Hampton offers real, genuine affordability within Hampton Roads: a $299,237 median home sale price and a real, City-Council-approved FY2026 property-tax rate cut, layered with Virginia's near-flat 5.75% income tax and the region's standard 6.0% combined sales tax.
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Learn moreHousing: among the most affordable in this build
Hampton's $299,237 median sale price (June 2026, +5.0% YoY) is close to Newport News's disclosed $317,827 and meaningfully below Chesapeake's $398K-$420K in this project's companion records -- a real, genuine affordability position within Hampton Roads.
Rent runs in a comparatively narrow, consistent range
A Hampton 1-bedroom ranged $1,131 (Rent.com) to $1,605 (RentHop), with RentCafe and HUD's FY2026 Fair Market Rent clustering around $1,423-$1,512 -- a narrower, more internally consistent spread than found for Newport News in this pass's research.
Virginia's near-flat income tax and the region's standard 6.0% sales tax
Virginia's graduated income tax (2% to $3,000, 3% to $5,000, 5% to $17,000, 5.75% above) runs near-flat 5.75% for most earners, applying identically to Hampton residents. The combined sales tax rate is 6.0%, the same across every Hampton Roads city in this project.
A real, actual property-tax rate cut for FY2026
Hampton City Council approved a real estate tax rate of $1.14 per $100 of assessed value for FY2026, down one cent from FY2025's $1.15 -- a real, current cost-of-living improvement, part of a 10-cent total reduction since 2022 under a stabilization policy tied to rising property values.
Key takeaways
- Hampton's $299,237 median home price is among the most affordable of the four cities in this build.
- Rent runs in a comparatively narrow, consistent range ($1,131-$1,605/month for a 1-bedroom).
- Virginia's near-flat 5.75% income tax and the region's standard 6.0% combined sales tax apply identically to Hampton residents.
- Hampton's real estate tax rate was actually cut for FY2026 ($1.14/$100, down from $1.15) -- a real, current cost improvement.
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