Olympia, WA vs Detroit, MI
Moving from Olympia to Detroit? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($533,918 → $269,080 median home) and taxes.
Olympia vs Detroit at a glance
Bars scaled to the range across all 200 metros; labels show actual values.
To keep the same standard of living as $100,000 in Olympia, WA, you'd need about $92,316 in Detroit, MI (−$7,684).
Livability — Olympia, WA: 52 · Detroit, MI: 62 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,686 sqft in Olympia vs 3,066 sqft in Detroit ($297 vs $163 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Olympia, WA | Detroit, MI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $24,492 | $18,000 | −$6,492 |
| Groceries | $5,246 | $4,896 | −$349 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $4,575 | +$500 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $2,316 | +$768 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,300 | −$200 |
| Taxes | $7,085 | $9,547 | +$2,462 |
| Total | $43,946 | $40,634 | −$3,311 |
Side by side
| Metric | Olympia, WA | Detroit, MI |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 106.4 | 98.2 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.49% | 6.60% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 9.0% | 1.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.05 | $5.59 |
| Median home price | $533,918 | $269,080 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.0× | 3.7× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 0.3% | 2.8% |
| Price per square foot | $297 | $163 |
| Median rent | $2,041 | $1,500 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 10.0% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 6.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 4.25% |
| Property tax rate | 0.92% | 1.43% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $11,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 0.61% |
| Avg commute (min) | 27 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,300 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,700 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $600 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 21.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $74 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 460 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 83 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 16 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 34.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 45.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 33% | 53% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |