Seattle, WA vs Salem, OR
Moving from Seattle to Salem? Here's what changes — from your equivalent salary to housing ($750,279 → $454,689 median home) and taxes.
Seattle vs Salem 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 $90,888 in Salem, OR (−$9,112).
Livability — Seattle, WA: 48 · Salem, OR: 59 (0–100).
What your home budget buys
A $500,000 home budget gets you about 1,200 sqft in Seattle vs 1,869 sqft in Salem ($417 vs $268 per sqft).
Annual cost breakdown (at $100,000)
| Category | Seattle, WA | Salem, OR | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing | $26,784 | $19,536 | −$7,248 |
| Groceries | $5,405 | $5,239 | −$166 |
| Transportation | $4,075 | $3,680 | −$395 |
| Utilities | $1,548 | $1,704 | +$156 |
| Insurance | $1,500 | $900 | −$600 |
| Taxes | $8,826 | $13,135 | +$4,309 |
| Total | $48,138 | $44,194 | −$3,944 |
Side by side
| Metric | Seattle, WA | Salem, OR |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-of-living index | 112.7 | 102.5 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.59% | 5.41% |
| Population growth (5-yr) | 7.1% | 5.7% |
| Air quality (median AQI) | 42 | 42 |
| Big Mac price (est.) | $6.41 | $5.83 |
| Median home price | $750,279 | $454,689 |
| Home price ÷ income | 7.0× | 6.3× |
| 1-yr home appreciation | -1.9% | 0.4% |
| Price per square foot | $417 | $268 |
| Median rent | $2,232 | $1,628 |
| Total tax burden (% income) | 10.7% | 10.8% |
| Combined sales tax | 9.38% | 0.00% |
| Capital gains tax | 7.00% | 9.90% |
| Property tax rate | 0.88% | 0.90% |
| Healthcare (annual) | $6,600 | $6,600 |
| Childcare (annual, infant) | $16,000 | $15,000 |
| Vehicle property tax | None | None |
| Avg commute (min) | 30 | 25 |
| Home insurance / yr | $1,500 | $900 |
| Auto insurance / yr | $1,600 | $1,500 |
| Flood insurance / yr | $700 | $650 |
| Earthquake insurance / yr | $700 | $600 |
| Electricity ¢/kWh | 14.4 | 15.8 |
| Gas $/gal | 4.55 | 4.10 |
| Natural gas / mo | $58 | $58 |
| Water & sewer / mo | $167 | $224 |
| Home internet / mo | $83 | $82 |
| Violent crime /100k | 375 | 340 |
| Avg summer high °F | 76 | 82 |
| Avg winter low °F | 37 | 34 |
| Annual precipitation (in) | 39.3 | 43.7 |
| Annual snowfall (in) | 6.3 | 3.4 |
| Sunshine (% possible) | 47% | 48% |
| Permit difficulty (1–5) | 5 | 4 |