Renton, Washington Cost Of Living

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F

Overall 37%

Goods & Services 32%

Housing 58%

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

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	Renton	Washington	National
Cost of living	137	117	100
Goods & Services	132	110	100
Groceries	130	108	100
Health care	122	121	100
Housing	158	135	100
Transportation	135	117	100
Utilities	108	91	100

Key findings

The cost of living in Renton is 17% higher than the Washington average
The cost of living in Renton is 37% higher than the national average
Renton housing is 58% 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	$86,460	$7,205	$2,017	$2,594
Renters	$48,031	$4,003	$1,121	$1,441

A good way to judge both the affordability of the housing and the cost of living in Renton is by simply calculating the maximum that should be spent on housing, otherwise known as the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The plan is to avoid spending more than 28 percent of the gross income on costs that pertain to housing and no more than 36 percent on all expenses and debts. Renton has a median income of about $86,460 for people who own homes. Based on that number, a maximum of $2,017 should be spent on expenses related to housing. Renters have a slightly different median income, which is $48,031. Based on this average, renters should spend no more than $1,121 on all rental costs if they want to maintain a non-impoverished standard of living.

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	Renton	National avg.	Difference
Haircut	$34.11	$20.27	68.3%
Beauty Salon	$56.95	$40.39	41.0%
Toothpaste	$4.02	$2.36	70.5%
Shampoo	$1.19	$1.08	10.2%
Movie	$13.16	$10.99	19.7%
Bowling	$21.77	$15.49	40.5%

Groceries

Item	Renton	National avg.	Difference
Ground Beef	$5.63	$4.30	30.9%
Fried Chicken	$2.57	$1.40	83.4%
Milk	$2.21	$2.20	0.5%
Potatoes	$3.32	$3.22	3.2%
Pizza	$13.72	$10.74	27.8%
Beer	$12.19	$9.60	27.0%

Health Care

Item	Renton	National avg.	Difference
Optometrist	$153.67	$109.73	40.0%
Doctor	$150.37	$118.34	27.1%
Dentist	$125.24	$100.94	24.1%
Ibuprofen	$11.27	$9.93	13.5%
Lipitor	$501.16	$469.53	6.7%

Housing

Item	Renton	National avg.	Difference
Home Price	$313,500.00	$184,700.00	69.7%
Avg. Mortgage Payment	$2,574.05	$1,229.62	109.3%
Apartment Rent	$1,248.00	$949.00	31.5%

Transportation

Item	Renton	National avg.	Difference
Gasoline	$3.61	$2.71	33.1%
Tire Balancing	$71.35	$51.86	37.6%

Utilities

Item	Renton	National avg.	Difference
All Electricity	$188.34	$170.84	10.2%
Phone	$197.61	$187.18	5.6%

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, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Algona, WA	3,140	121	21%
Pacific, WA	7,042	124	24%
Fairwood CDP (Spokane County), WA	8,055	124	24%
Boulevard Park, WA	3,689	125	25%
SeaTac, WA	28,298	127	27%
Renton, WA	98,499	137	37%

Cities with similar population

City, State	Population	Cost of Living Index	National Avg.
Vista, CA	98,560	138	38%
Albany, NY	98,425	103	3%
San Angelo, TX	98,694	90	-10%
Davie, FL	98,717	112	12%
Flint, MI	98,918	82	-18%
Renton, WA	98,499	137	37%

Source: The Renton, WA cost of living data displayed above is derived from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) for 2021.