Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Redmond's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Redmond?
Your $100,000 in Redmond has the same purchasing power as $79,840 in the average US city. You'd need $20,160 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 Redmond's cost index of 125, sorted by closest match.
Wondering whether you should move to Redmond? It depends on what you're optimizing for, but the city has real arguments in its favor: washington doesn't tax your paycheck and a high-income city, even by us standards, plus 6 more things worth knowing. The data behind each is below.
Living in Redmond 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.)
Median household income in Redmond is $155,287 — well above the US median of roughly $75k. It's a city where high-paying industries (tech, finance, professional services) cluster, and the income distribution tilts noticeably upward relative to most of the country.
The unemployment rate in Redmond sits at roughly 3.8%, which is a tight labor market by US standards. Salaries get nudged up faster, openings are easier to find, and switching jobs is less of a leap than it is in a softer market.
Redmond earns a Walk Score of 78/100 — above the US median, with denser neighborhoods scoring higher than the citywide aggregate suggests. A car is still useful for longer trips, but everyday life works on foot for a lot of residents. Transit Score comes in at 53/100 too, so even the trips that are too far to walk are usually doable on a bus or train.
Redmond's Bike Score is 68/100 — 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.
Redmond's air quality index averages about 44 — 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 Redmond is about 23 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.
73% of adults 25 and over in Redmond 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 Redmond'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. Redmond'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. Redmond'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. Redmond'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.
Redmond 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.
Redmond sits at about 194 feet (59 m) above sea level — low-lying, but with enough cushion that day-to-day life isn't affected by ocean levels.
Average for an American city. Redmond's reported crime rate of about 3,319 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
Yes, noticeably. Redmond's cost-of-living index runs 125, about 25% above the US baseline. Housing usually accounts for most of the markup; groceries and services run higher too but with less drama.
Yes — Redmond is one of the more walkable US cities. A Walk Score of 78/100 means most daily errands can be done on foot in most neighborhoods. Transit Score is 53 out of 100. Many residents go car-free comfortably.
Roughly $87,675 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 Redmond runs about $2,299/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.