Seattle, WA · Portland, OR
Portland is 21% cheaper than Seattle overall.
Home Price
Seattle: $780,000
Portland: $490,000
Monthly Rent
Seattle: $1,800/mo
Portland: $1,395/mo
COL Index
Seattle: 156
Portland: 123
Median Income
Seattle: $102,900
Portland: $81,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Seattle has the same purchasing power as $78,846 in Portland — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Portland cost 37% more (-$290,000 extra). Expect a larger mortgage and down payment.
Renting in Portland saves you $405/month — $4,860 per year. Median rent: $1,800/mo in Seattle vs $1,395/mo in Portland.
On a median-priced home, Seattle owners pay roughly $7,176/year in property taxes vs $4,508/year in Portland. Rates are comparable.
Median household income is $102,900 in Seattle and $81,200 in Portland. Portland residents earn 21% more — but remember to factor in cost of living.
Average commute is 30 minutes in Seattle vs 26 minutes in Portland. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Seattle to Portland, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Seattle | Equivalent in Portland | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $39,423 | -$10,577 |
| $75,000 | $59,135 | -$15,865 |
| $100,000 | $78,846 | -$21,154 |
| $150,000 | $118,269 | -$31,731 |
| $200,000 | $157,692 | -$42,308 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Based on cost of living indices, Portland is cheaper overall. Seattle has a COL index of 156 while Portland scores 123 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Seattle is $780,000 vs $490,000 in Portland — a difference of $290,000 (37%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Seattle is equivalent to $78,846 in Portland in terms of purchasing power.
Portland has a lower property tax rate (0.92% vs 0.92%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $4,508/year vs $7,176/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,800 in Seattle vs $1,395 in Portland. Annualized: $21,600 vs $16,740.
Seattle: $102,900/yr. Portland: $81,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Portland typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .