Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Bellingham's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Bellingham?
Your $100,000 in Bellingham has the same purchasing power as $94,047 in the average US city. You'd need $5,953 more 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 Bellingham's cost index of 106, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Bellingham? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: washington doesn't tax your paycheck and genuinely walkable, not just walkable-on-paper, plus 4 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Living in Bellingham means no state income tax on your salary — Washington is one of nine states that simply doesn't have one. On a $100k income that's typically thousands of dollars a year that stay in your account instead of going to a state revenue department. (Washington taxes some long-term capital gains over a high threshold, but ordinary wages and salaries are not taxed.)
Bellingham's Walk Score is 94/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change. Transit Score comes in at 58/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Bellingham's Bike Score is 86/100 — the kind of number you only get when a city has built real bike infrastructure (protected lanes, connected routes, drivers who expect cyclists). For commuting or just for getting around, the bike is a serious option here, not a hobby.
Bellingham's air quality index averages about 33 — 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 Bellingham is about 19 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.
46% of adults 25 and over in Bellingham hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Bellingham'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.
Now and then. Bellingham's winters are cool rather than truly cold — about 38°F on average — so most of the precipitation falls as rain. A snowy morning happens a few times a season; sustained accumulation is rare.
Mild on the cold side. Bellingham's winter average of about 38°F is the kind of weather where you want a jacket but the heating bill is manageable. Snow is rare, frost is occasional, and the lawn never really browns out.
Pleasantly warm. Bellingham's summer averages around 75°F — comfortable for outdoor evenings, hot enough on peak days to warrant AC but mild compared to the Sun Belt.
Bellingham falls in roughly USDA Zone 9. The zone classification is based on average annual minimum temperatures, so it's the right lookup for whether perennials and trees will overwinter here. Note that this is approximate from our winter-temperature data — check the USDA map for the exact zone before betting an expensive plant on it.
Bellingham sits at about 62 feet (19 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
The citywide numbers are concerning — about 6,965 per 100,000 residents, well above the US average of around 3,500. As with all crime stats, the city aggregate hides huge variation between neighborhoods, but the overall picture is worse than most US cities.
Roughly average. Bellingham's cost-of-living index is 106, putting it in the band where rent, groceries, and utilities track the national norm. Not a bargain, not a premium.
Genuinely so. Bellingham's Walk Score of 94 out of 100 puts it in "Walker's Paradise" territory — daily errands don't require a car at all. Transit Score is 58 out of 100. Many residents skip car ownership entirely.
Roughly $74,431 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 Bellingham runs about $1,385/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.