Portland, ME vs Seattle, WA
Moving from Portland to Seattle? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($542,063 → $750,279 median home) and taxes.
Portland vs Seattle 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 Portland, ME, you'd need about $108,027 in Seattle, WA (+$8,027).
Livability — Portland, ME: 58 · Seattle, WA: 48 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,568 sqft in Portland vs 1,200 sqft in Seattle ($319 vs $417 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Portland, ME | Seattle, WA | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $27,840 | $26,784 | −$1,056 |
| Groceries | $4,917 | $5,405 | +$489 |
| Transportation | $2,775 | $4,075 | +$1,300 |
| Utilities | $3,072 | $1,548 | −$1,524 |
| Insurance | $1,000 | $1,500 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $12,997 | $8,826 | −$4,171 |
| Total | $52,601 | $48,138 | −$4,462 |
Side by side
| Metric | Portland, ME | Seattle, WA |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 104.4 | 112.7 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.37% | 4.59% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 5.2% | 7.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $5.94 | $6.41 |
| Median home price | $542,063 | $750,279 |
| Home price ÷ income | 6.4× | 7.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | 1.0% | -1.9% |
| Price per square foot | $319 | $417 |
| Median rent | $2,320 | $2,232 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 12.4% | 10.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 5.50% | 9.38% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.15% | 7.00% |
| Property tax rate | 1.14% | 0.88% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $8,000 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $12,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | 2.40% | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 25 | 30 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,000 | $1,600 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $100 | $700 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 28.4 | 14.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 3.35 | 4.55 |
| Natural gas / mo | $78 | $58 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $86 | $167 |
| Home internet / mo | $71 | $83 |
| Violent crime /100k | 110 | 375 |
| Avg summer high °F | 80 | 76 |
| Avg winter low °F | 10 | 37 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 43.6 | 39.3 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 49.2 | 6.3 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 48% | 47% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 3 | 5 |