Seattle, WA vs Portland, ME
Moving from Seattle to Portland? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $542,063 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Portland 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 $92,569 in Portland, ME (−$7,431).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Portland, ME: 58 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 1,568 sqft in Portland ($417 vs $319 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Portland, ME | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $27,840 | +$1,056 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $4,917 | −$489 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $2,775 | −$1,300 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $3,072 | +$1,524 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $1,000 | −$500 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $12,997 | +$4,171 |
| Total | $48,138 | $52,601 | +$4,462 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Portland, ME |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 104.4 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 3.37% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 5.2% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.94 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $542,063 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 6.4× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | 1.0% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $319 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $2,320 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 12.4% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 5.50% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 7.15% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 1.14% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $8,000 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $12,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | 2.40% |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $1,000 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,000 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $700 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $100 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 28.4 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 3.35 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $78 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $86 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $71 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 110 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 80 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 10 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 43.6 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 49.2 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 48% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 3 |