Seattle, WA vs Charleston, SC
Moving from Seattle to Charleston? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $435,877 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Charleston 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 $89,681 in Charleston, SC (−$10,319).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Charleston, SC: 60 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 2,295 sqft in Charleston ($417 vs $218 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Charleston, SC | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $24,288 | −$2,496 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $4,797 | −$608 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $3,465 | −$610 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,848 | +$300 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,000 | +$500 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $10,552 | +$1,726 |
| Total | $48,138 | $46,950 | −$1,188 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Charleston, SC |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 101.1 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 4.07% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 8.0% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.75 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $435,877 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 5.6× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | -0.9% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $218 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $2,024 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 8.9% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 7.44% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 6.40% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.49% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,500 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $8,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.33% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 27 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $900 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 17.1 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 3.05 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $56 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $97 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 530 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 91 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 36 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 51.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 1.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 62% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |