Most Expensive Places To Live In Washington For 2020

The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Washington For 2020

1. Lynnwood

Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located 16 miles north of Seattle and 13 miles south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the fourth-largest city in Snohomish County, with a population of 36,485 in the 2010 U.S. census.

The median income in Lynnwood comes in at $59,416 and the median home value is $360,300 for 2020.

2. Bellingham

Bellingham is the largest city in and the county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the thirteenth-largest city in the state, with 80,885 residents as of the 2010 US Census, and is part of the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the state. The boundaries of the city encompass the former towns of Fairhaven, Whatcom, Sehome, and Bellingham.

The median income in Bellingham comes in at $50,844 and the median home value is $347,100 for 2020.

3. Seattle

Seattle ) is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 704,352 residents as of 2016, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the fastest-growing major city in the United States and remained in the Top 5 in May 2015 with an annual growth rate of 2.1%. In July 2016, Seattle was again the fastest-growing major U.S. city, with a 3.1% annual growth rate. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada-United States border. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015.

The median income in Seattle comes in at $85,562 and the median home value is $605,200 for 2020.

4. Pullman

Pullman is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington state within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, estimated to have reached 31,682 in 2014. Originally incorporated as Three Forks, the city was later renamed after industrialist George Pullman.

The median income in Pullman comes in at $30,205 and the median home value is $258,200 for 2020.

5. Woodinville

Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,938 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King and Snohomish counties. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, sweeping winery and brewery grounds, and densely wooded residential areas.

The median income in Woodinville comes in at $100,306 and the median home value is $577,300 for 2020.

6. Issaquah

Issaquah is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 37,322 in a 2016 census estimate. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the Issaquah Alps to the south.

The median income in Issaquah comes in at $101,508 and the median home value is $564,400 for 2020.

7. Burien

Burien is a suburban city in King County, Washington, United States, located south of Seattle on Puget Sound. As of the 2010 Census, Burien's population was 33,313, which is a 49.7% increase since incorporation. An annexation in 2010 increased the city's population to about 50,000.

The median income in Burien comes in at $62,315 and the median home value is $351,100 for 2020.

8. Des Moines

Des Moines is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 29,673 as of the 2010 census.

The median income in Des Moines comes in at $63,875 and the median home value is $329,500 for 2020.

9. Bellevue

The median income in Bellevue comes in at $112,283 and the median home value is $737,000 for 2020.

10. Shoreline

Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States, 9 miles north of Downtown Seattle bordering the northern Seattle city limits. As of the 2010 census, the population was 53,007, making it the 20th largest city in the state of Washington.

The median income in Shoreline comes in at $80,489 and the median home value is $452,100 for 2020.

How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Evergreen State For 2020

The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

1. How much do money do I make?
2. How much do I have spend to live there?

You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.

For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.

With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2014-2018 around incomes and costs. They are:

• Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
• Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
• Median Home Price

We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).

You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Washington to figure out which is the most expensive.

What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.

So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 118 places in Washington that have more than 5,000 people.

The place with the highest cost of living in Washington according to the data is Lynnwood. You can download the data here.