Seattle, WA vs Boulder, CO
Moving from Seattle to Boulder? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $727,954 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Boulder 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 Seattle, WA, you'd need about $89,251 in Boulder, CO (−$10,749).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Boulder, CO: 54 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 1,305 sqft in Boulder ($417 vs $383 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Boulder, CO | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $27,084 | +$300 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $4,814 | −$591 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $4,050 | −$25 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,788 | +$240 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,800 | +$1,300 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $10,679 | +$1,853 |
| Total | $48,138 | $51,214 | +$3,076 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Boulder, CO |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 100.6 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 4.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 3.8% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.72 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $727,954 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 7.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | -2.6% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $383 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $2,257 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 9.7% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 7.77% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 4.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.53% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,800 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $16,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.79% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 23 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $2,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $550 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 16.5 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 3.30 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $65 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $120 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $87 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 490 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 88 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 18 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 15.4 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 49.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 69% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |