Grevious47 t1_jedkr4m wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:20 AM

I mean people making minimum wage live in Seattle so it is possible but the cost of living is very high.

Minimum wage here is $15/hr so 15 x 2080 = $31200 a year so two people making minimum wage living together would pull in $62,400.

So your income in Seattle would mean living slightly above minimum wage standard of living.

The neighborhoods around Seattle are not much cheaper and the ones to the east in many cases are more expensive.

Firm_Bit OP t1_jee57d9 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 11:03 AM

We’d be at 65k after taxes and savings obligations. Does that change the picture any?

Thanks either way

Grevious47 t1_jef1lil wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:21 PM

Not by much I did say slightly above minimum wage. A couple grossing 62k (minimum wage) would pay 4.7k in FICA and 3.5k federal so they would take home about 54k a year. So youd be 20% above that which is what I meant when I said slightly above minimum wage standard of living assuming you wish to maintain your savings rate. Also as I said people do live in Seattle on that so it is possible it would just be tight.

I live in Seattle (like right on the city limit) in a house (so own not rent) with a family of four and we spend about $10k/mo here. We do mostly cooking for food and we spend about $1400/mo on food. Not claiming that is a minimum cost of living but i hang out on this subreddit and we are frugal people. Our takehome after savings (57k pretax) and taxes is 3x yours though.

The median household (gross) income in Seattle is $97k. The median rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in Seattle is $2756 (so 33k a year). Our house is old (like 1940s), 1600 square feet and not central to Seattle at all (at the edge) and its on Zillow at 835k. So you would be in the bottom half.

Seattle is probably in the top 5 highest COL cities in the nation.

Firm_Bit OP t1_jef4i5y wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:40 PM

Thanks for this insight. I appreciate it.

Grevious47 t1_jeffzi4 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:54 PM

Hope I didnt scare you off. Its a lovely city but yeah I would expect it would be tight on 65k a year for two. If you rent a 1 bedroom then maybe talking more like $1600/mo. Food for two its probably possible to do on $500/mo. Gas is about $4.50 a gallon out here. I mean Im sure you can manage but yes it is expensive to live in Seattle and your lifestyle and comfort moving here from Texas would almost certainly take a hit.