What is the cost of living like in the Seattle area?

My company is moving to Bellevue, which is just outside of Seattle, WA. We are currently in Durham, NC. Does anyone know the cost of living comparisons for these areas? My fiance (who works there too) and I are trying to decide if we should move with the company or just accept our fate and look for a new job.What is the cost of living like in the Seattle area?
My husband and I just moved to Seattle last year from Tucson. It鈥檚 pricier than Tucson for the same size home in Seattle proper. If you live in the outskirts it can be cheaper, but we found it worth it to live in the city itself. Tucson had a pretty inexpensive cost of living though, so I鈥檓 not sure how you鈥檇 see it comparatively. I鈥檓 not familiar with Durham.

Unfortunately for you, Bellevue tends to be pricey. If you鈥檙e planning on having kids, though, those are some of the best schools in the country. You could live in a nearby community over on the east side of the lake and like it. You could move into Bellevue when you do have kids.

When we moved up here people warned us that we鈥檇 be in a small apartment or outside the city of Seattle. We thought we鈥檇 have to forgo either a two-car garage or location, but we actually found a house in the city that we really like with the garage and a finished basement. My husband walks to work downtown. People will make it sound like doom and gloom, but it鈥檚 not.

There are a lot of pluses to this town that I never would have thought of that make it worth a whole lot more than the small difference we鈥檙e paying for the house. The heating is less here than the cooling was in Tucson. There are a lot more entertainment choices that are around the same price. Groceries are about the same. You can get more and cheaper fresh fruits here. The farmers鈥?markets are great. There are a lot of Asian restaurant options as well as a lot of other foods. We haven鈥檛 really attempted to find good Mexican food yet. Public transportation is way way better here. The library system is better here. Everything else seems comparable to Tucson except that getting avocados out of season is a bit higher.

I think it all depends on whether you can afford the housing. Everything else evens out or ends up a plus for Seattle and it鈥檚 surrounding towns. So, you may want to start looking on Craig鈥檚 List and some realty sites for housing prices. Here is one that we used as well as Craig鈥檚 List. I鈥檓 not sure which one we got our place from.

http://marketplace.nwsource.com/rentals/

I found the book below helpful when it was recommended to me, and I鈥檇 already been here a while. I wish I鈥檇 had it when I was first moving up here. It includes information on several surrounding towns including Bellevue. If you decide to come up here, you鈥檒l love it. Take advantage of all the town has to offer as you can.

If you鈥檙e going through this stuff and have any questions about neighborhoods or if you just want to talk with someone who made the move recently, let me know. I鈥檒l be happy to help.

Cheers!
Cyndy
Bellevue is a very rich community. It's extremely classy with a lot of rich people, so living in Bellevue is actually pretty costly. Also, I wouldn't move to Seattle then drive to Bellevue because traffic to and from both is horrible in some parts of the day. If you did end up taking the job, I would live in the Renton area (not downtown, though. places like the highlands would be good) because it's an average homely city. They have a lot of cookie cutter neighborhoods and a lot of unique ones, and it's only a 15 minute drive to Bellevue.



I really suggest coming to the Seattle area, though. It's really nice, and doesn't rain as much as people think. :P It's the perfect area for all kinds of different people.What is the cost of living like in the Seattle area?
Seattle has lot more expensive homes than bellevue. If your office is going to be in bellevue then you could look forward to stay in bellevue or the other nearby areas like Factoria, Bothell, Redmond etc. All them are having nice communities. There are only two major freeways which joins seattle with Bellevue. One is I-90 and another is SR 520. Most of the commute happens on SR 520. This freeways is jam most of the time as I do travel on this freeway everyday. I think you should consider this if you are planning to have home in seattle as most of your time would go in travelling.
The cost of living in Seattle area is 19 percent higher than the national average. Primarily the cost of housing and health care are major factors in this higher cost of living.
This one breaks down and compares each item with a lot of detail:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/movecalc.asp鈥?/a>
Most things will be a little more expensive. BUT, expect sticker shock when it comes to housing. Seattle's Housing COL index is over twice Durham鈥檚! There are very few markets in the US right now that are experiencing increasing real estate prices. Seattle, Portland, (and Charlotte) are 3. Most everyone else is suffering from declining home prices. I hope Durham mirrors Charlotte in this for your sake...

Compare Cities: Seattle, WA - Durham, NC - Cost of Living

COSTLIV Seattle Durham United States Overall 132 94 100 Grocery 110.9 102 100 Health 127 106 100 Housing 183 77 100 Utilities 73 93 100 Transportation 108 99 100 Miscellaneous 100 110 100

On the positive side, you live in a great place. And, Seattle is one of the nicest cities to live in, with access to natural environmental beauty that makes even North Carolina's nicest parts appear plain. Sounds like a nice opportunity. Negotiate with the company to help you with housing.

Good luck!