Categories: Lifestyle

Seattle’s cost of living compared to the national average will shock you

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It’s no secret that Seattle is expensive but just how expensive it is, that might surprise you. Ready to feel a bit better about being constantly broke in the Emerald City? Well, Rent.com just did the dirty work for us and broke down just how much it costs to live in Seattle. Let’s take a look.

There’s a lot of reasons for living in Seattle and you probably have your own. But some of the reasons why people choose to move here include the tech economy, nature, and well it just being on the West Coast. But the cost of living in Seattle is actually 56.8% higher than the rest of the nation. Is it really that worth it?

It will probably come as no surprise that this unaffordability comes mostly from the housing market. That being said, the cost of living for housing is only 13.7% above the national average, a bit less than we’d expect. You also have to think about food (27.7% higher than the national average), healthcare (27.6% above the national average), and transportation (40.8% higher than the national average). Clearly, we’re excelling on the unaffordability front.

Despite high costs, Seattle is still a super desirable city to many. We’re definitely way above average but still doing better than places like San Francisco and New York. That being said, who knows how long it’ll be before we catch up. Because Seattle isn’t so small anymore and it looks like it will only keep growing.

If you’d like to learn more you can click here.