Seattle Ranks 10th Most Expensive City In The US This Year

The cost of living is at the forefront of our thinking right now. It’s safe to say that we’re all concerned about the increasing cost of living, but some of that cost is based on where you’re living and if you are renting. 

There is a document out there called the Cost-of-Living Index. It comes from an organization called the Council for Community and Economic Research based in Virginia. They use rigorous methods for gathering and collecting information that helps them to determine, among other things, which cities are the most expensive to live in, In the United States. This year’s cost of living index indicates that Seattle is in the top 10 most expensive cities to live in, in the US. 

Let’s take an example. 

The Council for Community and Economic Research Examines 59 items within 250 cities in the US. You can see individual ratings for the expense in each city for each of the items if you wish to. 

For example, Seattle is rated as the number one most expensive city for a basic haircut. We’re talking about a man’s haircut now, nothing fancy. The average price in Seattle is $53.20. In Wenatchee I’m paying 25 bucks. 

Beer is more expensive in Seattle; a 6 pack of 12-ounce bottles of Heineken in Seattle will cost you on average, $13.16. That ranks #4 most expensive in the United States. 

Milk is more expensive in Seattle as well. The ninth most expensive in the United States. On average a 1/2 gallon of whole milk In Seattle is $5.25 

Based on this survey and research, if you take all 59 items and average them out Seattle ranks #10 on the list of most expensive cities in the United States. One of the key drivers here is rent. 

It may seem obvious, but I’ll state it anyway. The most expensive city to live in in the United States is still New York City. The average cost of living in New York City if you’re renting is approximately $6,175.00 a month. That number boggles my mind, but keep in mind, that’s an average number for New York City. 

Compare this to Seattle. 

The average cost for somebody living in Seattle including rent is about $4,633.00 a month. 

One of the more affordable cities in the top 100 is Minneapolis. Including rent, you would spend $2652.00 a month on average living in Minneapolis. That’s almost half the cost of living in Seattle. 

One of my favorite comparisons. 

Anybody that knows me knows that I love to go to the movies, so I was curious to find out how expensive it is to go see a movie in Seattle compared to other places in the United States.  

The national average for the cost of a movie ticket is approximately $13.32, and that doesn’t include popcorn and a soda. If you live in the Seattle area and you want to go to a movie, on average it’s going to cost you $15.74. You can assume we’re talking about a new release, first run movie.  

You can double that price if you want popcorn in a soda.