WA metros

Cost of living across major WA metropolitan areas.

What living in WA costs

Across the 6 WA metros we track, the typical cost-of-living index is 106.4 against a national metro median of 95.7 — about 11% pricier than the typical US metro. That ranks WA 44 of the 48 states we cover, counting from the cheapest.

The state is not uniform: Yakima, WA is the cheapest metro at 97.9, while Seattle, WA runs 112.7 — a spread of 15% between them.

A typical WA home costs $533,918, or about 6× median household income, and typical rent is $2,041/mo.

Taxes in WA

WA levies no state income tax, so the trade-off usually shows up in property and sales tax instead. Effective property tax runs about 0.9% of home value in a typical WA metro, and combined state and local sales tax is around 9.4%.

Property tax is the one that scales with housing, so it bites hardest in the pricier metros above. Per-metro figures are on each metro page.

Metro	COL index	Median home	Median rent
Seattle, WA	112.7	$750,279	$2,232
Spokane, WA	100.9	$423,842	$1,549
Kennewick, WA	98.9	$441,524	$1,713
Olympia, WA	106.4	$533,918	$2,041
Bremerton, WA	107.4	$586,380	$2,065
Yakima, WA	97.9	$355,256	$1,371

Cities & towns in WA (109)

Local property tax, home values and school scores for each place.

Seattle →Spokane →Tacoma →Vancouver →Bellevue →Kent →Everett →Renton →Spokane Valley →Federal Way →Yakima →Kirkland →Auburn →Kennewick →Pasco →Redmond →Marysville →South Hill →Sammamish →Lakewood →Richland →Shoreline →Lacey →Olympia →Burien →Bothell →Bremerton →Edmonds →Puyallup →Lynnwood →Issaquah →Parkland →Lake Stevens →Graham →University Place →Spanaway →Des Moines →SeaTac →Orchards →Maple Valley →Camas →Tumwater →Mercer Island →Mill Creek East →Frederickson →Bainbridge Island →North Lynnwood →Kenmore →Martha Lake →Cottage Lake →Eastmont →Union Hill-Novelty Hill →Hazel Dell →Bonney Lake →Silver Firs →Silverdale →Tukwila →Mukilteo →Mountlake Terrace →Five Corners →Battle Ground →Covington →Mill Creek →Bothell West →Salmon Creek →Arlington →Monroe →Fairwood →Bryn Mawr-Skyway →Washougal →West Richland →Sunnyside →Port Orchard →White Center →Lakeland North →Lake Stickney →Elk Plain →Bothell East →Artondale →Snoqualmie →Lake Forest Park →Fort Lewis →Woodinville →Newcastle →Cheney →Enumclaw →Lakeland South →Prairie Ridge →Edgewood →Lake Tapps →East Renton Highlands →Liberty Lake →Gig Harbor →Poulsbo →Minnehaha →Ridgefield →Maltby →Vashon →Grandview →Fife →Sumner →Airway Heights →Alderwood Manor →Felida →Lake Morton-Berrydale →Yelm →Mount Vista →Fairwood →Snohomish →