Is Seattle a Good Place to Live in 2023?

Are you considering moving to Seattle, but you want to be sure if it’s a good decision? Hence your question, “is Seattle a good place to live?”

There are a number of factors to consider before deciding if Seattle is a good place for you to live. These include security, cost of living, foreigners’ hospitality, etc.

Is Seattle a Good Place to Live?

Seattle is not such a bad place to live, depending on your needs and priority. There are some cons about Seattle, which you will discover as we unfold various factors that we considered to check if Seattle is a good place to live.

What Makes Seattle a Good or Bad Place to Live?

Here are the factors we considered:

1. Cost of living 

One of the most important things to consider when moving to any place is the cost of living there. You don’t want to live where you live from hand to mouth because the cost of living is crazy.

To me, this is the major con of living in Seattle, it is much relative. The cost of living in Seattle is 36% higher than the state’s average cost of living and 54% higher than the US national average cost of living.

This is pretty high depending on what is prior to you. If you are just starting out in life, you definitely do not need a place with a high cost of living. This is not the same for someone who is much settled and well-established already, it won’t be a big deal for them to settle in a city like this.

If you are looking for a place with a low cost of living, you might want to consider Tennessee.

2. Security and crime rate

Nobody wants to live in the middle of a war zone, or in a place where one’s life is unsafe. Every other factor would not matter if safety is out of the window.

This is another red flag. In 2022, Seattle recorded the highest violent crime rate in the last 15 years. Also, homicide increased by 24%, which is the highest in the last 10 years.

If you think this makes you scared, and you might not be at peace staying in a city like this, you might need to consider other options. But just so you know, this does not mean there are people living fine in this city. It just points to the fact that the crime rate is getting high recently.

3. Weather

The summer in Seattle is usually short, warm and dry, while the winter is very cold, wet, and most often cloudy. Their coldest month is in January mostly.

4. Amenities

This is another important factor to consider when considering moving to a new location. You don’t want to stay in a place where you and your family will not have access to basic amenities like education, health, good transportation, etc.

Seattle is blessed with wonderful medical facilities, and the city has a high concentration of doctors. The standard of healthcare depends on where you are, in the city of Seattle.

Also, it is a great place for students from other states in the US or international students to study.

5. Tax

Tax is also another strong factor to consider, as tax can be high in some states in the United States. You might think that it won’t hurt that you pay a few tens or hundreds of dollars every month.

This is pretty much the case in Seattle where you can save up the amount that is meant to go into the income tax, as there is no income tax in Seattle.

The minimum combined sales tax rate is 10.25%. This is a good one for people looking forward to settling in Seattle.

6. Economy and employment opportunities

You definitely want to know how easy it can be to get good jobs in the place you are planning to move to, or how the economy of the place is.

The unemployment rate in Seattle is equal to the that of US national average, which is pretty good.

You probably thought that since there is no income tax in Seattle, the average income might be lower. No! that is not the case, the average salary in Seattle is higher than the US national average salary.

This is not all there is when it comes to this, the local economy of Seattle is doing really well and has been said to be growing by 5%. Also, it is the 10th largest regional economy in the US.

So, if you are trying to seek and fish a city filled with opportunities, you might want to consider Seattle.

Conclusion

I hope you have gotten all the necessary information you need to decide if living in Seattle is a good place for you.