Bellingham, Washington Cost Of Living

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F

Overall 24%

Goods & Services 20%

Housing 45%

The cost of living index is based on a national average of 100. For example, if the cost of living is 90, then it is 10% lower than average. If the cost of living is 110, then it is 10% higher than average. The breakdown for each index is as follows: goods & services (33%), groceries (13%), health care (5%), housing (30%), transportation (9%) and utilities (10%). If the cost of living data was unavailable for this city, estimates based upon nearby cities were used.
Index	Bellingham	Washington	National
Cost of living	124	117	100
Goods & Services	120	110	100
Groceries	113	108	100
Health care	116	121	100
Housing	145	135	100
Transportation	127	117	100
Utilities	86	91	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Bellingham is 6% higher than the Washington average
The cost of living in Bellingham is 24% higher than the national average
Bellingham housing is 45% higher than the national average
Washington general sales tax is 28% higher than the national average
Washington state income tax is 100% lower than the national average

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Price difference in compared to

Cost of living index
Goods & Services index
Groceries index
Health care index
Housing index
Transportation index
Utilities index

Median Income & Debt-To-Income Ratio

Median Income	Per Year	Per Month	Max Budget (28% DTI)	Max Budget (36% DTI)
Owners	$71,831	$5,986	$1,676	$2,155
Renters	$30,125	$2,510	$703	$904

The affordability of the housing market in Bellingham, WA as well as the overall cost of living can be predicted by what percent of the monthly income is spent on housing related costs. This is konwn as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The overall rule of thumb is that no more than 28% of your gross income should be spent on the overall costs related to housing and no more than 36% of gross income on all expenses and debts. Among Bellingham homeowners, the median income is $71,831. This indicates that a monthly maximum of $1,676 should be spent by homeowners on all housing related costs. Renters have a median income of $30,125. This indicates that renters would have a maximum of $703 for their rent related monthly costs.

Washington Sales Tax

State	General Sales Tax	With Max Surtax
Washington	6.5%	10.4%

Washington Income Tax

State	Income Tax (Low)	Income Tax (High)
Washington	0%	0%

Goods & Services

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$23.85	$20.27	17.6%
Beauty Salon	$43.85	$40.39	8.5%
Toothpaste	$3.49	$2.36	47.9%
Shampoo	$1.54	$1.08	42.8%
Movie	$12.72	$10.99	15.7%
Bowling	$18.93	$15.49	22.2%

Groceries

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.11	$4.30	19.0%
Fried Chicken	$2.08	$1.40	48.4%
Milk	$2.32	$2.20	5.2%
Potatoes	$2.95	$3.22	8.3%
Pizza	$12.99	$10.74	20.9%
Beer	$10.82	$9.60	12.8%

Health Care

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$177.40	$109.73	61.7%
Doctor	$145.93	$118.34	23.3%
Dentist	$107.58	$100.94	6.6%
Ibuprofen	$11.35	$9.93	14.3%
Lipitor	$467.86	$469.53	0.4%

Housing

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$306,300.00	$184,700.00	65.8%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$1,653.79	$1,229.62	34.5%
Apartment Rent	$925.00	$949.00	2.5%

Transportation

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.48	$2.71	28.4%
Tire Balancing	$64.94	$51.86	25.2%

Utilities

Item	Bellingham	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$122.69	$170.84	28.2%
Phone	$196.09	$187.18	4.8%

Although the cost of living data is updated regularly, this cost of living information is to be used as estimates only as prices can change on an ongoing basis.

Nearby cities with low cost of living

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Edison, WA	135	112	12.3%
Custer, WA	448	114	14.4%
Deming, WA	246	114	14.4%
Acme, WA	162	114	14.4%
Nooksack, WA	1,763	113	13.4%
Bellingham, WA	84,462	124	23.7%

Cities with similar population

City	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Bend, OR	84,416	122	21.7%
Edinburg, TX	84,399	78	21.8%
Trenton, NJ	84,559	95	4.6%
Riverview, FL	84,590	99	1.4%
Champaign, IL	84,672	91	8.8%
Bellingham, WA	84,462	124	23.7%

Source: This data reflects 2021 and was released from C2ER in January, 2022; this is the most current data available.