Low cost of living in Lynchburg

Current living expenses in the Hill City are well below the national average

Students and local residents alike may know already that Lynchburg was ranked in a nationwide survey that placed it as the second lowest cost of living city in the commonwealth of Virginia.

“The price of residential living is one of the reasons I decided to move off,” Will Quirion, Liberty senior business major, said. “Lynchburg is significantly cheaper to live in as a college student than my previous college town was. It’s nice to know that I had that affordable option to get off campus.”

According to the city’s website, the low cost of living in Lynchburg draws many people and encourages small business growth.

“As a native Midwesterner, I can easily understand why Lynchburg is such a popular choice to live and work,” Rex Hammond, president and chief officer of the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, said.

Over the past five years, the Lynchburg area cost of living has continually declined from 102.8 to its current value of 91.0. The index is set at 100, which means that anything above that is higher than the national average. Anything below is considered under the national average. The categories evaluated are grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, healthcare and miscellaneous, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research.

Hammond also said that having a wonderful community and an excellent business climate aids in the operation of the city.

“Certainly, we have witnessed demonstrable business and residential growth in the past decade,” Hammond said. “A constant challenge for a city our size is to generate sufficient jobs to be able to offer positions to more of the graduates produced by our colleges. Still, I see this as a blessing to have our colleges producing a constant stream of graduates for jobs.”

Lynchburg is the fifth safest city based on crime rates and the ninth most secure place to live in the U.S., according to Sperling’s list of best places to live.

“(I) wouldn’t agree with the idea that our population is stagnant,” Hammond said. “By Virginia standards, we aren’t growing as fast as a few cities, but, from a national perspective, Lynchburg is growing at a normal, sustainable rate.”

Hammond made reference to the lack of interstate highways as a “limiting factor,” but not a negative one.

“Slow growth allows local government sufficient time for planning and development of efficient and appropriate infrastructure,” Hammond said.

For more information about the cost of living in Lynchburg and any other questions or concerns, contact the local government affairs office at lynchburgva.gov.