Giles County
Typical home signal around $175,000.
Credit
Photo: JustSomeGuy4361 / CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Resized and re-encoded for web
Moving to New River Valley from San Jose / Silicon Valley
For people leaving San Jose / Silicon Valley, Southwest Virginia is one of the better-value places to land. Housing and taxes cost a good deal less here, and you're right next to the Blue Ridge.
12.3% → 5.75%
Top income tax (CA vs VA)
0.75% → ~1%
Property tax rate
~59% lower
Cost of living vs San Jose / Silicon Valley
$212,500
Median home here
Taxes
CA's top income tax rate is 12.3% versus Virginia's 5.75%, and property taxes run about 0.75% there versus roughly 1% across the region. On a $212,500 home that's a meaningful annual difference.
Cost of living & housing
Overall costs run about 59% lower here than in San Jose / Silicon Valley. It takes only about $83,810 here to match a $200,000 lifestyle there. The $212,500 median home here would run on the order of $512,931 back in San Jose / Silicon Valley.
Where to live
For a first pass, compare both the numbers and the lifestyle fit. These are useful starting points before you narrow to specific homes.
Montgomery County
193 walkable spots in the amenity scan.
Floyd County
Division reports 96% on-time graduation.
Then compare the broader area numbers:
| Area | Median price | Tax /$100 |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County (Blacksburg & Christiansburg) | $357,250 | 0.76 |
| Pulaski County | $200,000 | 0.74 |
| Giles County | $175,000 | 0.68 |
| Floyd County | $225,000 | 0.66 |
Next steps
Run your numbersUse your actual income, current home value, and target area so the tax and affordability estimate is not generic.
Shortlist two or three areasPick one budget-first option, one commute-first option, and one daily-life option before looking at individual listings.
Check freshnessUse the source notes on each area page, especially where sale data is sparse or assessed values are used as a fallback.
Compare costs in the moving guide →
Sources and freshnessLast rebuilt 2026-09-14 with public records and source notes for moving from San Jose / Silicon Valley to New River Valley.
- Last rebuilt 2026-09-14 from the latest records synced into this guide.
- Home-price medians use 5,365 recorded public sale rows across 4 areas.
- 1 area uses assessed value because usable sale-price coverage is limited.
- Property and tax figures come from county/city parcel, sales, and assessor records.
- School metrics use Virginia Department of Education profiles when available.
- Amenity and business counts use OpenStreetMap, so hours and listings can change.
- Jobs, events, news, and business-directory layers are included only after their feeds or curated sources sync.
- Use these figures as planning estimates, then verify taxes, listings, and school details before making an offer.
Also exploring Southwest Virginia?
This page is focused on New River Valley. Open a neighboring guide when your search crosses into another part of the region.
Open Roanoke guideOpen Lynchburg guideOpen Charlottesville guideOpen Harrisonburg guideOpen Middle Peninsula guideOpen Winchester guideOpen NoVA guideOpen Bristol guideOpen Wytheville guideOpen SWVA guideOpen Culpeper guideOpen Martinsville guideOpen Southside guideOpen Farmville guideOpen Danville guideOpen Staunton guideOpen Richmond guideOpen Eastern Shore guideOpen Northern Neck guideOpen Alleghany guideOpen Fredericksburg guideOpen Petersburg guideOpen Hampton Roads guide