Why is the cost of rent,groceries,restuarants and movie ticekts less in Seattle than Los Angeles? (Bellevue: 2015, apartments)

[annonymous0381]

I know this question is common sense and about what the local markets will bear price wise.

I have lived in Seattle since July 2015. A few days ago I was visiting my parents in the Los Angeles area and experienced sticker shock with LA prices while visiting my parents.

Me and my parents went to a movie theater chain in LA called the archlight. The archlight charges $20 for an adult movie ticket. In Seattle at the Thorton place movie theater near Northgate or the movie theater in Bellevue I pay $11.50 for a movie ticket prime time. Today at Fred Meyer in Greenwood I paid S17.99 a pound for fillet minougn steaks while at the grocery store near my parents house fillet minougn steaks go for $30 per pound. Halibut here in Seattle at QFC,Safeway or fred meyer is S20 per pound.
At the Gelsons market near my parents house fresh halibut is $40 per pound.

Fresh Washington Cherries were $1.99 per pound at Fred Meyer today while cherries at Gelsons market in LA were $6 per pound.

Peaches here in Seattle are $1.50 t0 $2 per pound while at Gelsons in LA peaches are $4 per pound.

Gas in LA was $1 more per gallon than in Seattle.

Cheesecake factory in downtown Seattle charges $7-$8 for a piece of cheesecake while in LA cheesecake factory charges $11-$12 for piece of cheesecake.

My apartment in Northgate Seattle costs $1200 a month including utilities and I have a washer/dryer inside my unit. An apartment com[parable to my Seattle apartment near my parents house In LA would run between $1800 a month to $2200 per month.

I think at this point I'm going to stay living in Seattle.


At a singles group that I go to there is this woman who thinks that LA has cheaper apartments and cheaper grocery prices than Seattle. I disagree with this woman.


Interestingly the minimum wage in LA is $10 an hour verses $13 per hour in Seattle.

Some things just don't make sense to me.

[Hemlock140]

Some of those examples are easily explained, like the cherries and halibut, which have to travel a lot farther to LA. Also, your parents are probably living in a nice area. There are some areas of LA where apartments are less than in Seattle. We were down there in May, and also noticed beer, bacon, and milk were a lot more expensive. As for remaining here, there are far more benefits to living here over LA than just the cost of living.

[pnwguy2]

I think there are couple of things going on here. First, Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities and metros in the country. This certainly is bringing up prices, mostly in housing (both rent and purchase), but tends to be more noteworthy in the downtown, south lake union, and other in-town areas, along with the coveted Eastside cities of Bellevue Kirkland, Redmond, etc. The other part of this equation is many long-time residents and/or natives see this and are either dismayed by the rising costs, or secretly liking it as their property continues to inflate.

But to your main point, while Seattle has become more expensive, it is not nearly the cost of major cities in California. In fact, Portland is now closer to Seattle in COL than Seattle is to The Bay Area, or L.A.

[annonymous0381]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Some of those examples are easily explained, like the cherries and halibut, which have to travel a lot farther to LA. Also, your parents are probably living in a nice area. There are some areas of LA where apartments are less than in Seattle. We were down there in May, and also noticed beer, bacon, and milk were a lot more expensive. As for remaining here, there are far more benefits to living here over LA than just the cost of living.

You are right Milk is way more expensive in LA than in Seattle. Milk in LA is $4-$5 per gallon.

[daberkow]

Location, Location, Location

[CrazyDonkey]

And can depend on where you shop. Big difference between Safeway/QFC/Fred Meyer and Whole Foods/PCC/Ralphs. In California, Safeway = Von's.

[noah]

L.A. Metro has a population of 17 million compared to Seattle at less than 4 million. For all the talk of Seattle's growth it still has a long way to go to even crack the top 10, sitting around 15th right now. Moving from Atlanta (another larger metro) I found the food costs much much higher in Seattle with much less competition and selection.

That said, if you had visited one of the new southern California Aldi's you may be asking why food costs so much more in Seattle According to this piece that gallon of milk in a CA aldi's will cost you $2.45.

Discount grocery chain Aldi opens first eight Southern California stores - LA Times

Usually people explain the high prices based on our location and many things being trucked or flown in...the lack of selection I am not sure, probably because we are a smaller metro and many are willing to pay more for their groceries.

[drshang]

Gelson's is a corollary to Whole Foods. Comparing Gelson's to QFC is not really valid. Compare Ralph's to QFC and Von's to Safeway. If you compare LA farmers markets to Seattle or Ranch 99 (Asian ethnic market) between LA and Seattle you get much lower prices in LA.

In general though, Seafood and cherries are cheaper here. Overall I think the LA area has cheaper grocery prices, especially for farm fresh produce, particularly in the fall/winter.

[fluffydelusions]

We had an Aldis down the street when I lived in NJ. Terrible selection of food. Maybe they vary from place to place but that was my experience. It was all no name stuff you could buy from a dollar store and the meat selection was a joke.

[noah]

Their selection has improved dramatically in the last three years, especially with regards to organics and produce. But if brand name is what you seek, Aldi's is not the place for that. I didn't find it to be dollar store quality and actually really like their private label natural/organic brands.

Originally Posted by fluffydelusions

We had an Aldis down the street when I lived in NJ. Terrible selection of food. Maybe they vary from place to place but that was my experience. It was all no name stuff you could buy from a dollar store and the meat selection was a joke.