Cities with Biggest Paychecks: Seattle #5 (Forbes) (Bellevue, Wenatchee: real estate, rental, how much)

[RJ8089]

No, liberals.

[kaonevar]

Originally Posted by RJ8089

No, liberals.

Could you take your political prejudices elsewhere? Not really serving a point to the conversation here.

[CrazyDonkey]

While the cost of living has been rising, it is still less than in California, which is where most of the immigrants to Seattle are coming from, as well as many other major metropolitan areas (New York, Boston, Washington D.C.).

Housing costs are being driven up as fast as they are because so many people (including families) are moving into the "city" (Seattle and Bellevue, actually), because it is where the jobs are and they want to live closer to where they work (and don't want to spend half their lives stuck in traffic). Unfortunately, too many newcomers are under the impression that only a handful of neighborhoods are worth living in, causing rents and house prices there to especially skyrocket.

In the past, periodic "Boeing busts" would tend to sluice people back down I-5 and, thus, keep housing costs under control. Unless there is a "Microsoft/Amazon bust" somewhere on the horizon (hey, there might be)...

People are also being attracted here by the Seattle/NW life-style, which promises all the urbane amenities just a hop and a skip from the wonders of nature, in contrast to the cultural/natural wastelands they're leaving behind.

[RVD90277]

COL here is rising but still well manageable. I moved here for 2 reasons and 2 reasons only:

1) Much better work situation. Pay increase was 50% compared to what I was making in Southern California and the company is much more reputable (better for my future prospects).

2) COL with lower housing prices (I still estimate about 30% lower) + no state income tax + comparable sales tax meant that my wife can stop working and we get a much better quality of life even based on my single income.

My wife made good money (over 6 figures) so even with my increase in salary, etc. my single income makes less than what we both made together but because of the lower COL, our lifestyle is still much better with just my income.

If it wasn't for both of these reasons together, we would not have moved here.

However, I think that perhaps the wages are high only in tech so Amazon, MSFT, etc. are bringing that average up. i.e., I suspect that the standard deviation is pretty high in Seattle.

RVD.

[mrman78]

Not surprised Houston is so high. You can make a lot there, but it's not worth it. I feel you take a hit in quality of life due to the oppressive heat and lack of outdoor scenery/activities. I do make more here, but I'd still rather make less to live here over Houston!

[cpmunk]

seattle is also home to some of the cheapest and greediest people i've ever met

[CrazyDonkey]

You can find cheap and greedy people anywhere. Generalizing from your own circle of acquaintances is pretty worthless. Even with the increasing COL here, the "rat race" is still not as bad as many other places in the country.

[cpmunk]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

You can find cheap and greedy people anywhere. Generalizing from your own circle of acquaintances is pretty worthless. Even with the increasing COL here, the "rat race" is still not as bad as many other places in the country.

I guess to restate, I have never met so many 150k+ salaried people who are so greedy/cheap in a densely populated town, that they literally are the direct contributors to making life so damn expensive for everyone else.

[elkotronics]

It's perty hard ta disagree with cpmunk. It's even hard ta find an affordable rental in Moses Lake. Why would that be? There's nothing special at all about the place.

[ThePage]

What is the real value of money in those cities? I mean in DC, you can easily run into a 2-bedroom apartment costing $3000 /month !!!!
How can someone with $ 45 K/ year survive out there?