It actually makes more sense than it might seem upon first glance, at least in the context of people moving from Texas.
Texas’ minimum wage is the federal rate of $7.25/hr. Washington’s is $17.30/hr, while Seattle specifically has it even higher at $21.30/hr
Cost of living in Seattle is around 55% higher than in, say, Houston Texas, but its minimum wage is about three times the amount.
Add on to that the fact that Seattle has an expansive public transit network that costs much less than owning a car (about $108/mo for unlimited public transit rides on all buses, sometimes paid for entirely or in part by your employer), and there are definitely ways people can drive their cost of living down more if they want to.
HB 1491 has already been passed by the Washington legislature, but will only get adopted in 2029 (read more details here), and Seattle’s Mayor, Katie Wilson, is trying to push through additional upzoning and denser housing requirements that don’t just happen near light rail stations, but near other transit routes as well. (read more here)
My property taxes went down considerably going from Texas to Washington (though I did not move to King County). I did buy a used EV up here though since gasoline is crazy expensive and the infrastructure is much better. Most other costs went down or stayed the same. Houston is expensive as hell.
Yeah property tax is really high in Texas because it makes up for all the tax cuts over the years and lower sales tax. I paid more in taxes for a small condo I had there that was about 1/5th of the value of a small townhouse I eventually bought here. I had kept it thinking I’d move back, but Seattle won me over and Austin became less welcoming, so the property taxes made it not worth it even as an investment with the prices starting to rise at the time. Back then the cost for small homes was about 3-4 times Austin, now it’s around 1.5 to 2 times the cost from what friends have shown me. Looking at current average cost it looks like Seattle is about 875K, Austin is about 510K and Houston is about 260K. I don’t know about rent now, but at the time it was about double Austin’s in Seattle.
But other than property tax, which is just generally ridiculous in Texas compared to many other states, the cost of living here is significantly higher. Food (I miss HEB prices), gasoline, electricity, trash, car registration, rent/house prices, internet service (screw Comcast and their virtual monopoly, though it is getting better lately), almost everything was more here when I moved from Austin but that was over a decade ago. One thing that was cheaper is public transportation, though. I do appreciate that, living in the city.
Ummm
It actually makes more sense than it might seem upon first glance, at least in the context of people moving from Texas.
Texas’ minimum wage is the federal rate of $7.25/hr. Washington’s is $17.30/hr, while Seattle specifically has it even higher at $21.30/hr
Cost of living in Seattle is around 55% higher than in, say, Houston Texas, but its minimum wage is about three times the amount.
Add on to that the fact that Seattle has an expansive public transit network that costs much less than owning a car (about $108/mo for unlimited public transit rides on all buses, sometimes paid for entirely or in part by your employer), and there are definitely ways people can drive their cost of living down more if they want to.
Hopefully the state will rezone the land near the light rail stations for.high density housing
They are!
HB 1491 has already been passed by the Washington legislature, but will only get adopted in 2029 (read more details here), and Seattle’s Mayor, Katie Wilson, is trying to push through additional upzoning and denser housing requirements that don’t just happen near light rail stations, but near other transit routes as well. (read more here)
My property taxes went down considerably going from Texas to Washington (though I did not move to King County). I did buy a used EV up here though since gasoline is crazy expensive and the infrastructure is much better. Most other costs went down or stayed the same. Houston is expensive as hell.
Yeah property tax is really high in Texas because it makes up for all the tax cuts over the years and lower sales tax. I paid more in taxes for a small condo I had there that was about 1/5th of the value of a small townhouse I eventually bought here. I had kept it thinking I’d move back, but Seattle won me over and Austin became less welcoming, so the property taxes made it not worth it even as an investment with the prices starting to rise at the time. Back then the cost for small homes was about 3-4 times Austin, now it’s around 1.5 to 2 times the cost from what friends have shown me. Looking at current average cost it looks like Seattle is about 875K, Austin is about 510K and Houston is about 260K. I don’t know about rent now, but at the time it was about double Austin’s in Seattle.
But other than property tax, which is just generally ridiculous in Texas compared to many other states, the cost of living here is significantly higher. Food (I miss HEB prices), gasoline, electricity, trash, car registration, rent/house prices, internet service (screw Comcast and their virtual monopoly, though it is getting better lately), almost everything was more here when I moved from Austin but that was over a decade ago. One thing that was cheaper is public transportation, though. I do appreciate that, living in the city.
You bought property in Seattle proper? Wow.
People in Houston usual just live 1 hour away from Houston, but that still counts as Houston except according to people in Houston.
I lived in Houston proper (outside the loop). I had shell casings on my street.
I hope the pricing at least reflected that.
Oh I see. Yes. Good choice.
I’m happy you got out of Texas. Welcome to Washington!!!
My family was already here, I’d been trying to get here for over a decade. The election just made it my top priority.
So how much longer until Canada?
That was the other person. Agreed with congrats to them
Reading is hard. I’m so tired.
Seattle is in King County, ain’t nobody can afford to live there.