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CityLedger

Bellingham vs Bend

Metro-area medians — Bellingham, WA Metro Area vs Bend, OR Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Bend comes out ahead, winning 4 of the 7 clearly-decided measures.

Bellingham and Bend cost about the same to live in, but Bend households earn about 11% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Bend.

For your salary & household

Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.

Bellingham, WA
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
$59,335
real value after local prices
Bend, OR
$55,305
take-home / yr · 26% to tax
$53,380
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, Bellingham leaves you about $5,956/yr better off after tax and local prices.

Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.

Measure
Bellingham
Bend
Livability (CityLedger)
62/100
73/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
103.3
103.6
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$83,382
$92,638
Median household income
$86,162
$95,979
Median rent
$1,569/mo
$1,834/mo
Median home value
$627,800
$631,000
Unemployment
4.2%
4.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher
42%
42.6%
Average commute
20.6 min
19.5 min
Air quality (median AQI)
33
39
Avg temperature
50°F
49°F

Choose Bellingham for

  • + Median rent
  • + Unemployment
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Bellingham profile →

Choose Bend for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
  • + Average commute
Full Bend profile →

Bellingham vs Bend — frequently asked

Is Bellingham cheaper than Bend?
They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Bellingham and Bend metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
Which has higher household income, Bellingham or Bend?
Bend has the higher median household income — $95,979 versus $86,162 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 11% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Bellingham or Bend?
A paycheck stretches further in Bend. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $92,638 there versus $83,382 in Bellingham.
Which has cheaper rent, Bellingham or Bend?
Bellingham has cheaper rent — a median of $1,569/mo versus $1,834/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).