An Overview of Cost of Living in Gig Harbor, WA
The cost of living in Gig Harbor affects the quality of life one can afford in this new location. It allows people to assess whether they can maintain their preferred lifestyle, including housing, leisure activities and dining options. Your total monthly expenditures can varry depending on the area, as well as many other factors. The cost of living in Gig Harbor is 152, which is 52% higher than the national average. Knowledge of the cost of living can help individuals make informed decisions about retirement savings, investments, and financial goals.
If you're in pursuit of an economical living environment, Gig Harbor may not fit the bill, as it ranks among the most expensive places to reside in the United States. Just a minority of regions exhibit a cost of living that is more than 20% higher than the national average, and, unfortunately, Gig Harbor falls within this bracket.
Housing costs make up a big chunk of the cost of living in Gig Harbor, and they usually eat into a large part of your take-home pay. Unfortunately, in this area, both buying a home and renting one costs 140.1% more than the average city. This includes stuff like home prices, rent, mortgage rates, and insurance.
The things you purchase regularly, like clothes, haircuts, movie tickets and gym memberships, can make a big dent in your budget and make up 33% of the cost of living index. Unfortunately in Gig Harbor, these items will cost you 17.1% more than what's considered the norm, making it a more expensive place to call home.
Groceries are getting more expensive by the day and the cost of groceries makes up 13% of the overall cost of living index. In the past two years, prices have shot up by over 10%! Unfortunately, in Gig Harbor, it's the same story – grocery costs are 13.1% higher than what people pay across the country.
What Do Locals Say About the Cost of Living in Gig Harbor?
The most insightful perspective on a city comes from its residents. We recently surveyed 6 locals to gauge their perception of the cost of living in Gig Harbor. The feedback revealed that 17% of respondents found the cost of living to be reasonable, with prices on the decline, while 83% regarded it as notably expensive with prices that continue to rise.
Is Gig Harbor Affordable?
Is Gig Harbor an affordable place to live? That's a valid question to ask when you're thinking about moving to a new city. After all, how much it costs to live somewhere can be a huge factor in your decision. Affordability can be broken down into 3 common categories. The cost of living index (we talked about it earlier), housing expenses and income levels all play a big role in figuring out if a place is affordable. For instance, in Gig Harbor, the median home price is 176% higher than what most folks pay across the country, and monthly rent prices are 56.3% higher than the usual rates. Income levels in Gig Harbor come in at $84,861, which is 53.4% higher than the national average.
What Factors can Influence the Cost of Living in Gig Harbor?
Transportation: If public transportation is limited or not available, residents may need to own and maintain vehicles, which can add to the cost of living. Gas, insurance, regular maintenance and potentially lease or finance payments will all need to be paid on a monthly basis. In Gig Harbor, the transportation index is 24.2% higher than the national average.
Housing: When everyone's vying for homes in popular areas, it drives up property prices and rents, making the overall cost of living surge. On the flip side, in less sought-after locales, where housing demand is low, prices tend to dip, resulting in a more economical cost of living. In Gig Harbor, the housing index comes in at 140.1% higher than the national average.
Urbanization: Larger, urban centers, known for their wealth of amenities and strong employment prospects, often exhibit an elevated cost of living, primarily attributable to the heightened demand for services and residential relocation. Consequently, this scenario leads to elevated home prices and higher rental rates. In contrast, sparsely populated rural areas or regions characterized by diminished demand typically provide a more limited array of amenities and experience slower job market growth, resulting in a more affordable cost of living.
Where is the Data From?
The Gig Harbor cost of living data displayed above is derived from the C2ER cost of living index to provide a useful and reasonably accurate measure of living cost differences in urban areas. The index takes into account data from 300 independent researches, covering more than 60 goods and services across 6 different categories, to create an overall index for each area, with 100 being the average. The C2ER index does not include sales or income tax rates in their data, however AreaVibes does include both income and sales tax rates in the overall cost of living score for each area.
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