Overall
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 111.1
Diff -2.2 RPP
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue vs Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 2% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue.
2% less expensive
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is 2% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 108.9 vs 111.1). A $100,000 salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue buys about the same as $97,976 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 111.1 (Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue) vs 108.9 (Washington-Arlington-Alexandria)
- $100k in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue ≈ $97,976 purchasing power in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
- Services drives the gap (+13.9 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair WA:DC 111.1→108.9
TIER-NEAR · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- TIER-NEAR Near tier
- CROSS-STATE WA × DC
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 104.0
Diff +0.9 RPP
Services
Diff +13.9 RPP
Rents
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
- 151.3
Diff -0.2 RPP
| Category | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 111.1 | 108.9 | -2.2 |
| Goods | 104.0 | 104.8 | +0.9 |
| Services | 92.8 | 106.7 | +13.9 |
| Rents | 151.3 | 151.1 | -0.2 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 111.1
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 108.9
Goods
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 104.0
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 104.8
Services
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 92.8
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 106.7
Rents
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 151.3
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria 151.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Services creates the largest separation: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 13.9 points higher. But services and goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is 2% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, a meaningful but not extreme shift. The move decision turns on which budget category creates the 2.2-point overall gap.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue to $97,976 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue
111.1
Cost Index
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
108.9
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue would need to be in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria for the same purchasing power:
| In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | In Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,988 | $-1,012 |
| $75,000 | $73,482 | $-1,518 |
| $100,000 | $97,976 | $-2,024 |
| $150,000 | $146,964 | $-3,036 |
$ in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue = in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (111.1 → 108.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 5.7 to 2.2 RPP points. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 29.2 points between the first and latest shared releases (29.0 to 0.2 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue RPP | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 109.1 | 114.8 | 5.7 points Washington-Arlington-Alexandria higher |
| 2012 | 105.3 | 111.7 | 6.4 points Washington-Arlington-Alexandria higher |
| 2016 | 110.2 | 112.1 | 1.9 points Washington-Arlington-Alexandria higher |
| 2020 | 113.0 | 111.4 | 1.6 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
| 2024 | 111.1 | 108.9 | 2.2 points Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Washington-Arlington-Alexandria more expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue?
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is 2% less expensive than Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue. The overall cost index is 108.9 vs 111.1 (national average = 100).
What salary in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria equals $100K in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue?
A $100,000 salary in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue has the same purchasing power as $97,976 in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria?
Rents in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue are indexed at 151.3 while Washington-Arlington-Alexandria is at 151.1 (national average = 100). Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.