$100k salary, packing up from Honolulu

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Seattle, WA cityscape

swapping out of honolulu

Seattle

wa · metro 4.0M

photo: Thom Milkovic / unsplash

a dispatch from

seattle

WA

47.61°N

122.33°W

Seattle is coffee snobs, ferries crossing the sound, mountains in two directions, and misty mornings that make the espresso taste better. Pike Place still throws fish, the salmon is genuinely better here, and the Cascades sit right outside your window like a movie backdrop. The hippie greenmarket soul still runs through everything the tech money has built. Bring layers.

metro4.0M

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01 · the verdict

the verdict

$1,566

below Honolulu's monthly cost

Seattle is the kind of cheap that changes the math. Same salary, a different life on the other side.
landable, recorded on the seattle entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$2,193/mo

23% cheaper than Honolulu(vs $2,843/mo)

02state income tax

0%

$917/mo less in state tax than Honolulu

vs 11% in Honolulu

03after rent

$6,140/mo

$1,566 more than Honolulu

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$791k

25% cheaper than Honolulu

vs $1061k in Honolulu

05metro size

4.0M

vs 989k in Honolulu

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

182

pleasant days a year, in seattle.

Honolulu gets 316 pleasant days a year, so you'd be trading some sunshine.

2.7× the events of Honolulu, and the calendar shows it.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

93/100

69% higher than Honolulu

vs 55/100 in Honolulu

Closest outdoor draw: Mount Rainier National Park, 59.8 mi.

·walk score®

98/100

1% lower than Honolulu

vs 99/100 in Honolulu

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

90

76% more than Honolulu

vs 51 nonstops in Honolulu

04 · see also

same energy as seattle, different zip code:

see also

portland

similar overall lifestyle

turn the page

see also

trenton

more flight options

turn the page

see also

salt lake city

$198/mo cheaper

turn the page

compare seattle with:

PortlandTrentonSalt Lake City