Overall
103.3
Above avg
Metro cost profile · 2024 BEA RPP
Bellingham, WA
Cost-of-living indicators for Bellingham, WA, from Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, overall, goods, services, and rents vs the U.S. average of 100.
- 103.3
- Overall RPP
- #42
- of 387 metros
- 112.9
- Rents RPP
- $97K
- $100K national buys
Bellingham ranks #42 of 387 U.S. metros by cost, and its overall price index has risen 7.1 points since 2008.
- rising since 2008
- similar cost to Ithaca
The verdict
Bellingham is more expensive than 89% of U.S. metros, an overall cost index of 103.3, 3.3% above the national average, led by rents at 112.9.
- top 11%
- by overall cost, nationwide
- 105.0
- goods RPP, tradable items
- 99.9
- services RPP, labor-priced
A $100,000 national salary carries the purchasing power of about $96,774 here; matching a $100K lifestyle takes roughly $103,334.
Salary Equivalent
A $100,000 salary at the national average cost of living equals:
$103,334
in Bellingham, WA purchasing power
$50,000 nationally
$51,667
$75,000 nationally
$77,501
$125,000 nationally
$129,167
$150,000 nationally
$155,001
$200,000 nationally
$206,668
Use the salary calculator for custom amounts.
Affordability score
F
15/100
How far the median local paycheck goes here, combining income and housing cost
Purchasing power
Not reported
Housing affordability F
15th percentile
A weighted composite (60% purchasing power, 40% housing affordability) percentile-ranked against every other tracked metro; a missing input redistributes its weight rather than deflating the score. Sources: Census ACS 5-Year 2023 (income) + BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 (cost). Vintages differ by design; see methodology.
Housing-led cost profile
How Bellingham's cost structure works
Housing is the defining pressure in Bellingham: rents index at 112.9, the furthest component above the national benchmark. The overall index of 103.3 places Bellingham among the priciest quarter of U.S. metros; the rent line explains why a similar headline RPP can still require a different housing budget.
Across all reported metros, the closest component-profile matches are Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA, Salem, OR, Bend, OR. They resemble Bellingham across goods, services, and rents together, so they are stronger structure peers than a place selected only because its overall RPP happens to be nearby.
Across 2008-2024, Bellingham's overall index has risen by 7.1 points. This is a relative price-level history, not a prediction or a personal affordability recommendation; pair it with current local wages and housing options before making a decision.
Bellingham vs every U.S. metro
Where this metro sits in the national cost distribution
103 Top 11% higher than 89% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities · 2024
Bellingham cost breakdown
BEA RPP by category, 100 = national average
- Rents
Rents
112.9 RPP
- Services
Services
99.9 RPP
- Overall
Overall
103.3 RPP
- Goods
Goods
105 RPP
What this shows Bellingham's cost structure is housing-led: rents at 112.9 depart furthest from 100, while goods sits at 105.0. This is a rent-sensitive profile, not a claim that every local expense moves together.
Goods vs. housing, where Bellingham's cost comes from
Metros near Bellingham's overall cost, plotted by their goods price (horizontal) and housing price (vertical). Same headline RPP, very different structures.
Read the chart as text
- Bellingham (Bellingham, this metro): goods RPP 105, rents RPP 112.9
- Ithaca: goods RPP 99.7, rents RPP 128.4
- Phoenix: goods RPP 95, rents RPP 121.2
- Fairbanks: goods RPP 107.3, rents RPP 92.6
- Naples: goods RPP 96.2, rents RPP 129.4
- Trenton: goods RPP 99.8, rents RPP 135.1
- Dallas: goods RPP 102.8, rents RPP 117.9
Price Index Summary
Goods
105.0
Above avg
Services
99.9
Below avg
Rents
112.9
Expensive
Latest BEA release change
What changed from 2023 to 2024
Bellingham's overall RPP fell -0.7 points, from 104.0 in 2023 to 103.3 in 2024. The largest category movement was services, changing from 86.9 to 99.9. This is a relative change against the national benchmark, not a household's dollar bill.
RPP History (2008-2024)
The cost of living has been trending upward, increasing by 7.1 points over this period. The largest single-year move was in 2009, when the index jumped 6.1 points from the year before.
Bellingham overall RPP, 2008-2024
Every year on record, national average = 100
| Year | Overall |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.2 |
| 2009 | 102.3 |
| 2010 | 99.8 |
| 2011 | 103.2 |
| 2012 | 102.0 |
| 2013 | 100.4 |
| 2014 | 101.1 |
| 2015 | 101.2 |
| 2016 | 98.7 |
| 2017 | 101.0 |
| 2018 | 104.2 |
| 2019 | 104.1 |
| 2020 | 103.5 |
| 2021 | 104.6 |
| 2022 | 106.0 |
| 2023 | 104.0 |
| 2024 | 103.3 |
Metros with Similar Cost of Living
These metros have an overall RPP closest to Bellingham, WA's index of 103.3.
Showing the 6 closest of 387 metro areas tracked nationally.
WA-relative analysis
Goods prices places Bellingham, WA near the bottom of WA's metros
Among the 11 WA metros PlainCost tracks with reported goods prices data, Bellingham, WA ranks #1 - the 9th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide rank above: it compares Bellingham, WA only against its own state's metros, not the full US field.
Goods prices
#1 of 11
9th percentile in WA
Services prices
#2 of 11
82nd percentile in WA
Rent prices
#5 of 11
55th percentile in WA
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "more expensive is worse", see the national comparison above for direction context. This is a comparison within WA only, not a livability score.
Nationwide metros with similar overall cost or rent prices
Two BEA RPP-derived peer sets for Bellingham, WA: nearest metros by overall regional price parity and by rents RPP. These are cross-state neighborhoods, not the in-state metro list below.
Similar overall RPP
Nearest metros by overall regional price parity (103.3 here).
Similar rents RPP
Nearest metros by rents regional price parity (112.9 here).
Worcester, MA Rents 113.0 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Rents 113.1 Punta Gorda, FL Rents 113.3 Greeley, CO Rents 112.6 Port St. Lucie, FL Rents 113.6 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Rents 112.0 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Rents 111.8 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL Rents 111.7
Other WA Metros
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 111.1 Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA 105.6 Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA 103.9 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA 103.7 Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA 102.4 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA 100.3
View all WA metros → Cheapest in WA → Most expensive in WA →
Decision peers
Metros with a similar cost mix
These metros are closest to Bellingham's combined goods, services, and rents profile. They may not have the same overall RPP, but their price pressures are shaped in a similar way.
Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA
Goods 105.0 · Services 100.6 · Rents 115.0 Salem, OR
Goods 105.3 · Services 104.7 · Rents 110.3 Bend, OR
Goods 105.3 · Services 105.0 · Rents 110.0 Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
Goods 105.0 · Services 96.0 · Rents 108.2 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
Goods 100.4 · Services 96.2 · Rents 111.0 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Goods 103.1 · Services 93.5 · Rents 111.8
Compare to Other Metros
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Cost of living guides →, cheapest and most-expensive metro rankings, salary negotiation with RPP data, and step-by-step comparison walkthroughs.
What this means for Bellingham
How to read Bellingham's cost of living before a move, a job offer, or a budget.
- Budget to local prices, not headline pay, a $100K national salary spends like about $96,774 in Bellingham. Salary calculator
- Start with rents: it indexes at 112.9, the largest departure from the national benchmark in this metro's BEA cost mix. Compare it with the other components before treating the overall RPP as a complete household budget.
- Compare Bellingham head-to-head against a specific destination before you decide. Compare metros
RPP is BEA's annual price-level benchmark for the data year shown, not a live market quote. Pair it with current local wages and housing costs before deciding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Bellingham, WA?
Bellingham, WA has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) index of 103.3, meaning it is 3.3% more expensive than the national average. Goods are indexed at 105.0, services at 99.9, and rents at 112.9. It ranks #42 out of 387 U.S. metro areas by overall cost.
What salary do I need in Bellingham, WA to match $100K nationally?
To maintain the same purchasing power as a $100,000 salary at the national average, you would need approximately $103,334 in Bellingham, WA. Conversely, $100K earned in Bellingham, WA has the purchasing power of $96,774 at the national average.
How expensive is rent in Bellingham, WA?
Rents in Bellingham, WA are indexed at 112.9, which is 12.9% above the national average. This is significantly higher than typical U.S. rents.
Is Bellingham, WA getting more expensive?
From 2008 to 2024, Bellingham, WA's overall cost index changed by +7.1 points (from 96.2 to 103.3). The cost of living has been trending upward.
What costs the most in Bellingham, WA?
The priciest category in Bellingham, WA is rents at 112.9, 12.9% above the national average. The most affordable category is services at 99.9, 0.1% below average.
What metros have a similar cost of living to Bellingham, WA?
Metros with the most similar overall cost index include Ithaca, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Fairbanks-College. These areas have RPP values within a few points of Bellingham, WA's 103.3.
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.