NavoyNostos

Virginia Beach vs Winston-Salem

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights the two cities tie at 62. Neither leads on any factor by 10 points or more. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Cost of living: 2.4 of 62 points (scores 22/100)Safety: 5.7 of 62 points (scores 51/100)Healthcare: 9.5 of 62 points (scores 85/100)Internet: 9.6 of 62 points (scores 86/100)Visa ease: 6.8 of 62 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 1.3 of 62 points (scores 11/100)Climate: 5.6 of 62 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 10.8 of 62 points (scores 97/100)Quality of life: 10.6 of 62 points (scores 96/100)62
Virginia Beach
out of 100

Long Atlantic beach, military bases and suburban sprawl

Full Virginia Beach profile →Plan a trip to Virginia Beach →
Cost of living: 2.7 of 62 points (scores 25/100)Safety: 5.7 of 62 points (scores 51/100)Healthcare: 9.5 of 62 points (scores 85/100)Internet: 9.3 of 62 points (scores 84/100)Visa ease: 6.8 of 62 points (scores 61/100)Getting there & around: 0.8 of 62 points (scores 7/100)Climate: 5.6 of 62 points (scores 50/100)Air quality: 10.6 of 62 points (scores 95/100)Quality of life: 10.6 of 62 points (scores 96/100)62
Winston-Salem
out of 100

Former tobacco town reinvented around medicine, research and the arts

Full Winston-Salem profile →Plan a trip to Winston-Salem →

Where they differ

Where they are close. Within five points on getting there & around, cost of living, internet, air quality, safety, healthcare, visa ease, climate, quality of life.

Pick Virginia Beach if you want

  • no clear edge over Winston-Salem in the data

Pick Winston-Salem if you want

  • to spend about $177 less a month

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Cost of living2225 ✓
Safety5151
Healthcare8585
Internet86 ✓84
Visa ease6161
Getting there & around11 ✓7
Climate5050
Air quality97 ✓95
Quality of life9696

Cost

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Monthly cost, one person$2,938$2,761 ✓
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Homicides per 100k5.765.76
Political stability (0–100)60.360.3
UHC service coverage (0–100)8888
Life expectancy78.5 yrs78.5 yrs

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Download100.8 Mbps102.5 Mbps ✓
Upload24 Mbps ✓11.6 Mbps

Visa

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passporthome countryhome country
Entry, EU passporteTA required (online, before travel)eTA required (online, before travel)
Entry, UK passporteTA required (online, before travel)eTA required (online, before travel)

Getting there and around

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Non-stop airport destinations44 ✓15
Walkability (1–5, editorial)22
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricVirginia BeachWinston-Salem
Comfortable months per year66
Annual mean PM2.56.3 µg/m³ ✓7.2 µg/m³

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Virginia Beach or Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem is cheaper: about $2,761 per month versus $2,938 for one person.
Is Virginia Beach or Winston-Salem safer?
Virginia Beach and Winston-Salem score the same on safety (51), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Virginia Beach or Winston-Salem?
Winston-Salem: a measured median of 102.5 Mbps versus 100.8 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 population (national data, latest year); UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); WHO Ambient Air Quality Database, June 2026 update (V8); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); Regional Price Parities by metropolitan area, 2024 (all items); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.11.2. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.