Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Bellevue's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Bellevue?
Your $100,000 in Bellevue has the same purchasing power as $111,957 in the average US city. You'd need $11,957 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Bellevue's cost index of 89, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Bellevue usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, a higher-income labor market than the national norm, plus 4 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Bellevue sits at 89 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 11% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,141/mo against a typical household income of $79,839, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Median household income in Bellevue is $79,839, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
At about 2.9% unemployment, Bellevue's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Bellevue reports roughly 1,600 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Bellevue's air quality index averages about 37 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Bellevue is about 21 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Bellevue's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Bellevue does winter the real way. Averages around 18°F keep snow on the ground for weeks at a time, and lakes and rivers tend to freeze hard enough to walk on.
Cold enough to plan around. Winter in Bellevue averages roughly 18°F, with stretches where daytime highs don't break freezing for weeks. Decent insulation, a real coat, and a car that starts in cold weather are non-negotiable.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Bellevue runs about 83°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 7, give or take a half-zone. Bellevue's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 7 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Bellevue is at about 988 feet (301 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
By the numbers, yes. Bellevue reports roughly 1,600 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Bellevue's composite cost-of-living index is 89, roughly 11% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Bellevue is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 5 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 9 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $62,524 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Bellevue runs about $1,141/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.