Washington cost of living
Prices in Washington run at 107.0 against a national average of 100, which makes it the 6th most expensive of the 51 jurisdictions. Housing is the part that separates states: rents there sit at 126.0.
Where the difference actually is
Prices in Washington run at 107.0 where the national average is 100, so about 7 per cent above the country as a whole. It ranks #6 of 51 states.
Housing is doing nearly all of the work. Rents sit at 126.0 while goods sit at 104.4, a gap of 19 points between what it costs to live somewhere and what it costs to buy things. That pattern is the single most useful thing the parity series shows: the cost of a place is the cost of its housing. Goods at 104.4 are themselves 4.4 points off national, which is a wide gap for a category that is mostly shipped in.
The practical use of this number is converting pay between places. Take any salary quoted here, divide by 107.0, multiply by 100, and you have what it would need to be nationally to leave you equally well off.
The vertical line is the national average of 100. Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, SARPP, 2024.
What it costs, in actual money
Parities are ratios. These are the figures behind them for Washington, drawn from the other datasets on this site.
| Washington | |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $519,800 |
| Median gross rent | $1,682 a month |
| Median household income | $94,952 |
| Average electricity bill | $130 a month |
| Effective property tax | 0.84% |
Metro areas in Washington
Within a state, cities and rural areas diverge sharply. A statewide parity averages over that.
| Metro area | All items | Goods | Rents | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | 111.1 | 104.0 | 151.3 | #7 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard | 105.6 | 105.0 | 129.6 | #26 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro | 105.4 | 105.2 | 125.1 | #28 |
| Wenatchee-East Wenatchee | 103.9 | 105.0 | 115.0 | #37 |
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater | 103.7 | 105.0 | 116.7 | #38 |
| Bellingham | 103.3 | 105.0 | 112.9 | #42 |
| Mount Vernon-Anacortes | 102.4 | 105.0 | 108.2 | #53 |
| Spokane-Spokane Valley | 100.3 | 105.0 | 97.1 | #83 |
| Kennewick-Richland | 100.1 | 105.0 | 94.8 | #89 |
| Walla Walla | 98.5 | 105.0 | 86.6 | #102 |
| Longview-Kelso | 97.5 | 105.0 | 82.5 | #121 |
| Yakima | 95.5 | 105.0 | 72.6 | #159 |
| Lewiston | 91.2 | 96.2 | 71.9 | #263 |
Washington cost of living: common questions
Is Washington expensive to live in?
Prices overall are 7% above the national average, at a parity of 107.0 where 100 is the country as a whole. It ranks #6 of 51. Goods run at 104.4, rents at 126.0 and other services at 92.9.
What is a salary in Washington really worth?
The median wage there is $61,590. Adjusted for local prices that buys what $57,561 buys nationally. A state that pays well and costs more can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows it.
What is a regional price parity?
An official measure from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of what a dollar buys in one place against the national average, set at 100. It is built from the same price collection that underlies the consumer price index, extended to compare places rather than time periods. It is the only government measure of cost of living differences between states.
Why is housing treated separately?
Because it carries most of the difference. In Washington rents sit 19 points above the state's overall parity. Goods barely vary between states, since most of them are shipped nationally; services vary more; housing varies enormously. Any cost of living comparison that does not separate housing is mostly measuring housing anyway.