Cost of living in parts of America are out of control. How expensive is living in WA?
Many parts of the U.S. are experiencing a cost of living crisis. Home prices have skyrocketed. College tuition has more than doubled over the past 20 years. Over the past few years, inflation has been another burden on Americans’ wallets.
In many respects, Washington has one of the highest price tags for livability in the nation. This is according to education funding website Scholaroo, which released an analysis examining key indicators of cost such as average costs of rent, income, taxes and insurance coverage.
Scholaroo’s team designated Washington the fifth worst state for cost overall.
The study ranked states based on 31 factors across nine categories: living expenses, personal expenses, taxes and income, loans and credit card bills, and costs for health, education, insurance, telecommunications and travel. States earned up to 11 points for each category, aside from living expenses at 12, for a total score of 100. The states were ranked overall based on their score, as well as each individual category.
The most-expensive states overall are:
California
New York
Hawaii
Massachusetts
Washington
Midwestern and southern states possess a much lower cost of living. Places like South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Mississippi ranked among the most affordable in the nation. Meanwhile, New England and the west coast proved to be the most costly sectors of the U.S.
Cost of living in WA
The average cost for living expenses, personal expenses and income are particularly high for Washingtonians, according to Scholaroo’s estimates. Across the nine categories, here is how Washington fared, with 1st representing the best affordability and 50th being least affordable:
48th for living expenses (groceries, rent, utilities): $1,842 a month on average
49th for personal expenses (gym membership, cost of alcohol, haircuts): $234 a month on average
48th for income: $82,400 average annual income
11th for health cost (doctor visits, health insurance): $680 average monthly expense
13th for insurance costs (life and car insurance): $3,042 average cost per month
42nd for loans and credit card bill (mortgage, car loan): $2,388 average cost per month
41st for telecommunications cost (cellphone, cable and internet): $402 average cost per month
The education site found that Washington houses have the fifth-highest median sale value.
As of March, the Evergreen State’s average property sale price was $586,000, according to real estate website Redfin. This is up from its $456,000 median sale value in March 2020. Tacoma homes in March had an average of $460,000 and $343,000 in March 2020.
