Seattle, WA vs Fayetteville, AR
Moving from Seattle to Fayetteville? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $368,497 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Fayetteville 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 $81,122 in Fayetteville, AR (−$18,878).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Fayetteville, AR: 66 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 2,714 sqft in Fayetteville ($417 vs $184 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Fayetteville, AR | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $19,128 | −$7,656 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $4,655 | −$750 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $3,405 | −$670 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,524 | −$24 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $2,800 | +$1,300 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $8,682 | −$144 |
| Total | $48,138 | $40,193 | −$7,945 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Fayetteville, AR |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 91.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 3.55% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.20 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $368,497 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 5.0× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | 3.1% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $184 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $1,594 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 9.47% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 3.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.60% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $7,500 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 1.02% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 21 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $2,800 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,900 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $750 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $350 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 14.2 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 2.95 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $62 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $62 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $78 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 640 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 93 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 30 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 49.0 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 8.0 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 60% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 2 |