Cost of Living in Seattle: A Guide for Homebuyers

Published on January 10th, 2024
10 min read

Richard Haddad Managing Editor
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Richard Haddad Managing Editor

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Richard Haddad is the managing editor of HomeLight.com. He works with an experienced content team that oversees the company’s blog featuring in-depth articles about the home buying and selling process, homeownership news, home care and design tips, and related real estate trends. Previously, he served as an editor and content producer for World Company, Gannett, and Western News & Info, where he also served as news director and director of internet operations.

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If you’re considering a move to Seattle, understanding the cost of living in the Emerald City can help you make plans with more confidence.

In this guide, we break down what makes up the cost of living in Seattle, from housing expenses to food and healthcare costs. We’ll provide data from local cost of living index and comparison tools, and take a look at how Seattle ranks for livability compared to other U.S. cities.

We’ll also share a handy set of additional online resources to measure and compare cost of living and expenses in other Washington State communities.

What makes up the ‘cost of living’ in Seattle?

When you’re planning to live in a new city, the cost of living there will be a combination of expenses required to maintain your desired lifestyle. Cambridge Dictionary defines cost of living as “the amount of money that people need to spend in order to buy basic goods or services such as food, clothes, and a place to live.”

This overall cost will vary significantly based on location, even within the state of Washington. But the living expenses you’ll pay for typically include the following categories:

Housing (mortgage/rent)
Energy (utility costs)
Food (groceries)
Transportation (vehicle or transit systems)
Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, dentists, etc.)

However, the costs often extend beyond these basics to cover other expenses, such as:

Clothing
Education
Childcare
Entertainment

These elements, when combined, establish the core costs associated with a particular way of living. However, the standard of living you achieve is largely influenced by your income and debts, and how the dollar amounts compare to the costs of basic needs in the location where you live or, in this case, the Seattle community where you might want to live.

Let’s take a quick look at some ways you can compare the cost of living you have now with what you might experience if you move to Seattle.

What’s a Seattle cost of living index (CLI)?

A cost of living index (CLI) monitors how much these basic expenses go up or down over time in different states, cities, or regions. They provide a way for you to compare the price of maintaining a particular standard of living.

The CLI for a city like Seattle is calculated by assessing the price of essential goods and services, such as housing, food, transportation, and healthcare, in different areas.

A local index is typically standardized, with a base city being assigned a baseline index value (usually set at 100). Other cities are then compared against this benchmark. For example, a Washington State community with a CLI of 125 would signify that living there is 25% more expensive than the base location, while an index of 75 indicates it’s 25% less expensive.

A cost of living index will typically break down and score each basic expense by category. Here are separate scores for Seattle from the AXIOS Seattle Cost of Living Index:

Overall CLI score: 145.7
Housing: 211.6
Healthcare: 139.1
Transportation: 131.8
Misc. goods and services: 120.9
Grocery items: 115.9
Utilities: 101.8

Data source used: C2ER Council for Economic and Social Research

According to AXIOS, Seattle has the ninth-highest cost of living among the 269 U.S. urban areas analyzed (as of Q3 2023).

Cost perspective

While Seattle’s overall cost of living is 45.7 points higher than the 100 baseline established for the 269 cities included in the index, it’s well below the New York borough of Manhattan, which (with a CLI score of 227.8) is 127.8 points higher than the base of other urban areas analyzed.

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Additional cost of living data for Seattle

Now let’s look at some real-world dollar amounts collected by various cost of living sources. Here’s more of what you can expect if you move to Seattle.

Expatistan, a cost-of-living data site, provides these monthly cost estimates for Seattle:

Family of four estimated monthly costs: $6,170
Single person estimated monthly costs: $3,644

Best Places lists these housing estimates on their Seattle cost of living pages:

Seattle housing data

Number of homes	362,809
Median home age	50 years
Median home cost	$823,900
Home appreciation rate (last 12 months)	10.8%
Home appreciation rate (last 5 years)	42.5%
Home appreciation rate (last 10 years)	142.4%
Property tax rate (per $1,000 of value)	$8.03*
Property taxes paid (average home)	$6,162
Homes owned	42.0%
Housing vacant	7.0%
Homes rented	51.0%

Source: BestPlaces.com

Seattle tax rates

State individual income tax rate: Washington does not have a personal income tax
Washington State sales tax rate: 6.5%
Seattle sales tax rate: 3.75
Effective property tax rate (percentage of home value): 1.05%

*Seattle does not collect property tax. Property taxes are paid to King County.

How does Seattle rank for livability?

Along with the cost of living, you might be curious how Seattle ranks as far as livability or quality of life. According to the AARP Livability Index of top communities in the U.S., Seattle has an above-average quality of life score, ranking #5 out of the top 100 cities.

For their livability index, AARP separates cities into one of four size categories, Very Large, Large, Midsize, and Small. Seattle falls in the “Very Large” city category.

The index then provides an overall score between 0-100 (higher is better), based on rankings from seven categories:

Overall Livability Score: 63
Housing (affordability and access): 49
Neighborhood (proximity and security): 71
Transportation (safety and convenience): 70
Environment (clean air and water): 54
Health (prevention, access, and quality): 75
Engagement (civic and social involvement): 72
Opportunity (inclusion and possibilities): 48

For perspective, the highest-ranked city scores in each category were:

Very Large: San Francisco, 66
Large: Madison, Wisconsin, 67
Mid-size: Portland Main, 68
Small: Aspen, Colorado, 73

No city earned a perfect score of 100. You can learn more about this livability index on AARP’s methodology page.

Check your current city’s livability score

AARP provides a Livability Index Search Page where it scores cities and even neighborhoods across the country for services and amenities that impact your life. You can check your current city score or others where you’d like to live. The livability index Community Finder tool allows you to filter by location, community size, livability measures, and other features, such as state and local plans to create age-friendly communities.

Additional cost of living indexes

Here are some cost of living index links to research additional Washington State living expenses:

Statista: Provides free access to many basic statistics. Paid subscriptions are available for more detailed information about Washington communities.
ACCRA (C2ER): Maintained by the Council for Community and Economic Research. This is a paid service that maintains one of the largest databases of cost of living metrics for Seattle and other Washington cities.
World Population Review CLI page: This website provides a free search-by-state tool at the bottom of its Cost of Living Index page.
Numbeo: This crowd-sourced CLI promotes itself as “the world’s largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries worldwide.” This service can show you user-provided insights such as the cost of an inexpensive restaurant in Seattle or the perceived presence of crime in different parts of Washington. It’s free for personal use.

Why are people moving to (or from) Washington?

According to the United Van Lines 47th Annual Movers Study that tracks migrations within the United States, here are the reasons people are moving into Washington State, or moving away to other states.

Primary reasons people are moving

Inbound	Reason for the move	Outbound
9.40%	Retirement	14.10%
7.20%	Health	5.70%
25.6%	Family	28.80%
9.7%	Lifestyle	12.80%
31.90%	Job	24.20%
1.60%	Cost	3.30%

Total inbound: 47.8%

Total outbound: 52.2%

Budgeting for your move to Seattle

Below is a collection of handy online tools you can use to help estimate your moving costs and living expenses in Seattle — from how much you’ll need to pay a mover to how much your current home might sell for and the proceeds you can expect.

1. Online move cost estimators

With today’s smart technology, you can find a wide variety of tools to help you estimate the cost of paying for a mover, or how to find a trusted mover. Some examples include:

2. Cost of living calculators

Cost of living calculators are different from cost of living indexes. These tools, which are typically free, provide a comparison based on income and regional costs for housing, transportation, food, healthcare, and other basic necessities in the two locations you select.

For example, if you live in Denver, you can view a side-by-side cost comparison with Seattle expenses — or other nearby Washington cities. Some popular cost-of-living calculators include:

3. Living wage and budget calculators

Living Wage Calculator: Designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), this calculator can help you estimate the local wage rate that you’ll need as a full-time Seattle worker in order to cover the costs of your family’s basic living expenses.
Family Budget Calculator: This tool, provided by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), estimates the income your family will need to attain a modest — yet adequate — standard of living in your new Seattle community. Choose from 10 family types.

4. Homebuyer calculators

Home Affordability Calculator: Understand the costs associated with buying a home in Seattle and find out how much home you can afford before you start shopping or planning a move.
Down Payment Calculator: Estimate how much you might need to put down on a home in Seattle and learn more about the loan options that work best for you.
Closing Costs Calculator: Find out how much cash you’ll need for closing costs on a Seattle house, including estimated lender and third-party fees.

5. Home seller calculators

Home Value Estimator: Get a preliminary estimate of what your current home is worth, along with options to help you get the best price when you’re ready to sell.
Best Time to Sell Calculator: Use this calculator that incorporates nationwide real estate transaction data to help time your move.
Agent Commissions Calculator: Learn how much you might pay in real estate agent commissions when selling a house in your current market.
Net Proceeds Calculator: Get a ballpark idea of the net proceeds you could earn from the sale of your existing home.

Selling your current home and buying in Seattle

To make your move smoother and less stressful, modern real estate solution companies like HomeLight have created innovative programs to help you buy a house before you sell your old one.

Watch the short video below to learn about HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program that lets you move into your new Seattle home now and sell your current house with peace of mind and on your timeline.

Partner with a professional to find your new Seattle home

As you plan your move, HomeLight can connect you with a top-performing, trusted real estate agent in your current city or in the Seattle community where you’d like to live. We analyze over 27 million transactions and thousands of reviews to determine which agent is best for you based on your needs.

For the best of both worlds — coming and going — ask your agent about HomeLight’s Buy Before You Sell program to help take the uncertainty out of your Seattle home purchase.

Header Image Source: (f11photo / DepositPhotos)

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Richard Haddad

Managing Editor

Richard Haddad is the managing editor of HomeLight.com. He works with an experienced content team that oversees the company’s blog featuring in-depth articles about the home buying and selling process, homeownership news, home care and design tips, and related real estate trends. Previously, he served as an editor and content producer for World Company, Gannett, and Western News & Info, where he also served as news director and director of internet operations.