Seattle is a dream location for many people who are looking to live in a major city with excellent job prospects and access to plenty of outdoor recreation options. But people are willing to pay a premium to live in Seattle, with its scenic views of Puget Sound, high-paying jobs at major companies like Microsoft and Amazon and temperate climate, so the cost to live here can be steep.
Prepare yourself for not only high home prices in many parts of the area, but for groceries, evenings out and other expenses to add up as well.
[What You Should Know About Moving to Seattle]
Here’s what you can expect to pay while living in the Seattle area:
— $715,000 is the median home price for the metro area, based on data from the U.S. News Housing Market Index.
— Houses in the city proper cost a median of $760,000, according to Redfin data.
— $2,153 is the median monthly rent for the metro area
— It costs about $6 a day or $180 per month to use public transit with an ORCA card, according to Seattle Transit Blog .I
— $500 minimum per month per person for groceries, per data from crowdsourced information site Numbeo.
— 10.25% sales tax in the city of Seattle.
— No state income tax means less money will come out of your paycheck, giving you more to cover housing, entertainment and other costs.
[See: The Best Affordable Places to Live on the West Coast.]
The True Cost of Living in Seattle
Seattle ranks 36th in the U.S. News 2022-2023Best Places to Live rankings, boosted by high scores for its good job market, reputation as a desirable place to live and population growth due to people moving to the area. Seattle placed 19th out of 25 on the 2022-2023 Most Desirable Places to Live ranking.
According to U.S. News data, the average annual salary for a Seattleite is $74,330. This is high compared with the rest of the U.S., as the average annual income in the U.S. in 2023 is $56,310. The median annual housing cost for the Seattle area is $21,595, which factors in median mortgage, utilities and property tax payments for 12 months for homeowners in the metro area, and median gross rent for 12 months for renters.
In all, the cost of living in Seattle requires 26.65% of the median household income.
[What You Should Know About Moving to Seattle]
How Much It Costs to Buy a Home in Seattle
The median home price for the Seattle metro area is $715,000 , That’s well above the national median home price of $383,000.
Considering the most recent numbers, however, homebuyers should expect to pay even more to live in the Seattle area. In February 2023, the median sales price for a home in Seattle was $750,000, slightly down from February 2022, when homes were selling for $760,000, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
As is the case in most parts of the U.S., you can expect to pay a premium in certain neighborhoods and suburbs, while others are more affordable. Seattle sits between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, and many highly desirable neighborhoods are near the central part of the city or downtown, including Belltown and Lower Queen Anne.
On the eastern shore of Lake Washington, the median home price in the high-end suburb of Bellevue is nearly $1.3 million as of March, 2023, according to Zillow data.https://www.zillow.com/home-values/3619/bellevue-wa/
You’re more likely to find more property at a lower price if you live slightly north or south of Seattle, as most high-priced properties are found in the neighborhoods and cities located between three major bodies of water in the area: Puget Sound, Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish.
For example, in Des Moines, Washington, 15 miles south of the center of Seattle, the median home price is a more affordable $$550,400 as of March 2023, according to Zillow.
We recommend finding a local Seattle real estate agent when buying a home. Sellers pay agent commission, so it won’t cost you anything.
[How Do Real Estate Commissions Work?]
Affording a Home in Seattle
With high median prices, affording a home in Seattle is tough but not impossible. Homebuyers should examine all the financing options available to them, such as a low down payment program.
Would-be homebuyers throughout the U.S. are struggling with high interest rates. Freddie Mac reported the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate was at 6.73% in the second week of March 2023. Compare that to the 3.85% rate it was last year, and hopeful home buyers are in for a bit of a squeeze.
[Seattle Housing Market Forecast]
Seattle home values are still high, but have come down from their pandemic highs. According to Michael Orbino, managing broker for Compass in the Seattle metro area, Seattle home values have dropped by nearly 20% from their peak prices. In March 2022, the Seattle housing market hit a peak median sold price of $892,200, according to Redfin data. Today, homes are selling for $760,000 in the city proper.
Housing supply remains low, and the number of building permits for single-family homes declined about 35% year-over-year from between September and November 2022. It’s still a seller’s market, although that may change in the future.
One way to make sure your Seattle house is a worthy investment is to keep it for more than a few years. Seattle houses have appreciated by 6.3% over the last 5 years.
Other Costs of Living in Seattle
As residents of Washington, people living in and around Seattle have no income tax, which means less money comes out of their paychecks. However, Seattle residents do pay higher sales tax than residents of most other parts of the U.S. The combined total sales tax is 10.25%, including 6.5% for the state of Washington and 3.75% for the city, according to tax information company Avalara.
There’s a fairly convenient loophole that many Seattle area residents take advantage of, however. If you have a big purchase to make, you can drive about three hours over to Portland, Oregon, where the sales tax is zero.
The typical Seattle resident should be prepared to pay roughly $500 per month per person minimum to cover their monthly food expenses, based on grocery cost information from Numbeo, a user-contributed cost of living database.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 25% of Seattle-area residents take advantage of public transportation for their commute. Public transit in the area is primarily made up of buses and trains. Commuters can use their ORCA card to pay for fares on all types of transit.
Bus fare costs $2.75 per ride for adults, while a trip on one of the train lines varies in cost depending on the line and distance traveled, from $2.25 to $5.75 for adults. For all types of transportation, fares vary depending age — children and seniors pay less, for example — and low-income residents can also receive reduced fare options. The ORCA card costs $3 initially, but it can be reloaded with money for continuous use.
According to the Seattle Transit Blog, plan to spend about $6 a day on transit, or about $180 per month.
To save on commuting costs, you can be among the 10.7% of Seattle area residents who walk or the 3.7% who bike to work, according U.S. Census data.
[READ: When Will the Housing Market Crash?]
How to Afford the Cost of Living in Seattle
The more money you make, the easier it is to live exactly where you want in Seattle — or any other place for that matter.
However, living in Seattle on with a lower salary than the median or with less savings for a down payment is possible. People interested in moving to Seattle may want to look into cooperative housing, which is less expensive than detached single family homes. A housing cooperative, or co-op, is typically an apartment building or community where all the residents own equal shares and control of the building.
Seattle’s easy access to outdoor destinations, including Olympic National Park to Mount Rainier National Park and North Cascades National Park, means more options to spend your free time outside the city. If nature calls to you, a longer work commute may be a reasonable trade-off for close access to hiking trails, skiing opportunities and more.
More from U.S. News
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The 25 Best Places to Live for Families in the U.S. in 2022-2023
What Is the Cost of Living in Seattle? originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 03/13/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
