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CityLedger

Seattle vs St. Louis

Metro-area medians — Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area vs St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area — not the cities proper.

Seattle and St. Louis are evenly matched, each taking 5 of the clearly-decided measures.

St. Louis is about 17% cheaper to live in, while Seattle households earn about 38% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Seattle.

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.

Seattle, WA
$61,314
take-home / yr · 18% to tax
$55,171
real value after local prices
St. Louis, MO
$58,705
take-home / yr · 22% to tax
$61,737
real value after local prices

On $75,000 for just you, St. Louis leaves you about $6,566/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
Seattle
St. Louis
Livability (CityLedger)
78/100
62/100
Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
111.1
95.1
Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
$101,129
$85,898
Median household income
$112,388
$81,679
Median rent
$2,050/mo
$1,154/mo
Median home value
$743,000
$268,300
Unemployment
4.7%
3.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
48.5%
39.5%
Average commute
30 min
25.4 min
Air quality (median AQI)
47
55
Avg temperature
54°F
57°F

Choose Seattle for

  • + Livability (CityLedger)
  • + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
  • + Median household income
  • + Bachelor's degree or higher
  • + Air quality (median AQI)
Full Seattle profile →

Choose St. Louis for

  • + Cost of living (price level, US = 100)
  • + Median rent
  • + Median home value
  • + Unemployment
  • + Average commute
Full St. Louis profile →

Seattle vs St. Louis — frequently asked

Is Seattle cheaper than St. Louis?
St. Louis is cheaper: its overall cost of living runs about 17% below Seattle's (BEA Regional Price Parities).
Which has higher household income, Seattle or St. Louis?
Seattle has the higher median household income — $112,388 versus $81,679 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 38% more.
Does a paycheck go further in Seattle or St. Louis?
A paycheck stretches further in Seattle. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $101,129 there versus $85,898 in St. Louis.
Which has cheaper rent, Seattle or St. Louis?
St. Louis has cheaper rent — a median of $1,154/mo versus $2,050/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).