Uprootmap

Bellingham, WA

Modelled metro

Cost of living in Bellingham: $2,268 leftover

Cost of living in Bellingham, as leftover, is $2,268 a month for one adult, renting a 1-bedroom on local pay — take-home after tax minus rent of $1,471 and the rest of the modelled month. A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 1.07). Washington has no state income tax. Bellingham is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.

Compare vs ChicagoHow the math works

These figures start from one adult in a one-bedroom, on local pay of about $98,500. Change the job, the pay, or how many bedrooms you need, and leftover changes. This is a monthly budget, not a cost-of-living index.

The month, in dollars

Take-home is $5,846 after tax. These lines are the modelled bills, then what is left. The monthly costs page is the same household inside the city hub.

Monthly costs and leftover in Bellingham
Rent$1,471
Groceries$430
Transport$550
Healthcare$483
Utilities$269
Childcare$0
Everything else$376
Total costs$3,578
Leftover$2,268

Sales tax is about 9.4%. Property tax is modelled at 0.71% of a $536,100 median home. Non-housing lines scale a national baseline by this metro's cost index (1.07).

Asking rent by bedroom

Turnover asking rent in Bellingham, not the Census median of occupied stock. Rent versus buying.

  • Studio

    $1,261

  • 1 bedroom

    $1,471

  • 2 bedrooms

    $1,751

  • 3 bedrooms

    $2,294

  • 4 bedrooms

    $2,714

Leftover in other metros nearby

Same household. Each leftover is take-home after that metro's tax minus its rent.

Leftover is take-home after federal, state and city wage tax, minus asking rent at the bedroom count you set, minus a modelled month of groceries, utilities, healthcare, transport and childcare. It is not a cost-of-living index and not a moving quote. Change the job, remote versus local pay, or bedrooms and the ranking is a different city. How the math works · Leftover vs a COL index · Why a cheaper COL% can still lose leftover.

Cost of living in Bellingham

What is the cost of living in Bellingham?

On the default one-adult, one-bedroom household, leftover in Bellingham, WA is about $2,268 a month after tax and rent. Asking rent is about $1,471 for a one-bedroom and $1,751 for a two-bedroom. That is a budget, not a cost-of-living index.

How does Bellingham compare with a cost-of-living index?

A price index would say non-housing costs sit near the US average (index 1.07). Leftover still depends on your tax bill and bedroom count, which an index does not. Bellingham is a modelled metro: rent, wages and prices come from Zillow, Census and BEA, not a hand-written city essay.

Where is take-home pay in Bellingham calculated?

The take-home page for Bellingham splits federal, payroll, state and local wage tax, then subtracts rent. The city paycheck page is the same leftover math with the map.

Popular compares from Bellingham

Moving from Bellingham

Other Washington metros

Other metros in Washington, with leftover, rent, and day-to-day pages.

All Washington metros