California vs Washington

Household income

Currently in

Moving to

Your $100,000 in California is worth

$90,334

at national prices · RPP 110.7BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

The same income in Washington is worth

$93,458

at national prices · RPP 107.0BEA RPP SARPPSource: BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 vintage · released February 2026 · Official API

Your income goes +$3,124 further in Washington (+3.5% purchasing power).

Show the math

adjusted = income ÷ (RPP ÷ 100)

California: $100,000 ÷ (110.7 ÷ 100) = $90,334

Washington: $100,000 ÷ (107.0 ÷ 100) = $93,458

difference: $93,458 − $90,334 = +$3,124

Where the difference comes from

Price level by component, 100 = US average. Higher means more expensive.

Regional price parity by component for the two states, with the percentage difference.
Component	California	Washington	Difference
All items	110.7	107.0	−3.3%
Housing rents	154.3	126.0	−18.3%
Goods	106.1	104.4	−1.6%
Utilities	158.9	92.9	−41.5%
Other services	102.6	103.9	+1.3%

BEA Regional Price Parities · SARPP · 2024 · rel. February 2026 · Official API

Housing reality check

Typical rent and home price in each state — tangible context beyond the index.

CaliforniaMedian rent$2,036/moMedian home$734,700

WashingtonMedian rent$1,760/moMedian home$564,600

US Census ACS 5-Year Estimates · ACS5 · 2024 · rel. December 2025 · Official API

Tax at a glance

Hand-curated, tax year 2026 · verified 2026-07-20

Income and sales tax for the two states.
Tax	California	Washington
Income tax (top rate)	13.30%	None
Sales tax (combined avg)	8.99%	9.51%

Tax Foundation (income & sales) · Tax · 2026 · rel. tax year 2026 · Manually maintained · verified 2026-07-20

Official API Manually maintained2 of 3 metrics sourced from official APIs, 1 manually maintained. How every number is calculated →

California vs Washington: the read

The bottom line

Move a $100,000 income from California to Washington and its purchasing power changes from $90,334 to $93,458 in national-average terms — a gain of $3,124. Washington is the cheaper of the two, running at 107 on the price index versus 110.7.

Where the difference comes from

The widest gap is utilities: California sits at 158.9 and Washington at 92.9 (100 = national). Washington has the edge there, and it's the main reason the two states diverge.

Housing

Median rent runs $2,036 in California against $1,760 in Washington, and the typical home $734,700 versus $564,600. Washington is the more affordable place to buy.

Taxes

On tax, California has 13.30% top income tax and a combined sales tax of 8.99%; Washington has no wage income tax and 9.51%. That income-tax difference can outweigh a chunk of the cost-of-living gap for higher earners.

Full profiles: California ·Washington. Every figure here is sourced on the pages linked above.

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