How Much Does It Cost to Live In Vancouver, WA?
Vancouver is a city in the Southwest Washington region of Washington, located immediately north of the border with Oregon.
The average cost of living in Vancouver is comparable to San Francisco or Silicon Valley.
Vancouver is a good place to live and enough people move to the city each year to support that claim.
Its reputation has grown as an alternative to living in a big city.
That’s good if you’re looking for a higher quality of life (slower pace, more trees, and nature), but could leave you with fewer big city amenities than you’re used to.
United States : Cost of Living by City
- Albany, NY
- Albuquerque, NM
- Anchorage, AK
- Ann Arbor, MI
- Arlington, TX
- Asheville, NC
- Atlanta, GA
- Austin, TX
- Bakersfield, CA
- Baltimore, MD
- Bellevue, WA
- Bellingham, WA
- Berkeley, CA
- Birmingham, AL
- Boise, ID
- Boston, MA
- Boulder, CO
- Brooklyn, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Burlington, VT
- Charleston, SC
- Charlotte, NC
- Chattanooga, TN
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland, OH
- Columbia, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Dayton, OH
- Denver, CO
- Des Moines, IA
- Detroit, MI
- El Paso, TX
- Eugene, OR
- Everett, WA
- Fayetteville, AR
- Fort Myers, FL
- Fort Wayne, IN
- Fort Worth, TX
- Fresno, CA
- Gainesville, FL
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Greensboro, NC
- Hartford, CT
- Honolulu, HI
- Houston, TX
- Huntsville, AL
- Indianapolis, IN
- Irvine, CA
- Jacksonville, FL
- Jersey City, NJ
- Kansas City, MO
- Knoxville, TN
- Las Vegas, NV
- Lexington, KY
- Little Rock, AR
- Long Beach, CA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Louisville, KY
- Lubbock, TX
- Madison, WI
- Memphis, TN
- Miami, FL
- Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville, TN
- New Orleans, LA
- New York, NY
- Oakland, CA
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Olympia, WA
- Orlando, FL
- Peoria, IL
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Portland, ME
- Portland, OR
- Raleigh, NC
- Reno, NV
- Richmond, VA
- Rochester, NY
- Sacramento, CA
- Saint Louis, MO
- Saint Paul, MN
- Saint Petersburg, FL
- Salem, OR
- Salt Lake City, UT
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Santa Rosa, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Spokane, WA
- Springfield, MO
- Syracuse, NY
- Tacoma, WA
- Tallahassee, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Toledo, OH
- Tucson, AZ
- Tulsa, OK
- Vancouver, WA
- Virginia Beach, VA
- Washington, DC
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Wichita, KS
RESTAURANTS
Eating out will cost you anywhere from 7$-30$ per meal.
Expect to spend around 375$-500$ if you eat out occasionally.
One big thing about Vancouver: alcohol is expensive.
A drink, while not on happy hours, can cost 6/7$ per 16oz pint.
However, there are still good old trusty fast-food chain restaurants where you can eat for a couple of dollars.
MARKETS
Vancouver Farmers Market is open from March through October and offers a great selection of naturally grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs, local natural meats, seafood, and dairy products.
Groceries will cost you 300$–400$ per month for an individual or 500$–600$ a month for a couple.
There are a lot of great deals.
Usually prices in small corner stores are better than many grocery stores.
TRANSPORTATION
C-TRAN is Clark County’s public bus system but it’s really badly organized and doesn’t cover the whole city.
Your best bet here is to drive a car, though gas prices are a bit expensive.
You can hail any taxi you see in the street with the green light on.
Many people living here don’t even use public transport and their transport costs are down to zero – they just go on foot.
UTILITIES (MONTHLY)
As far as utilities go, electricity is still pretty cheap.
Depending on the size of your apartment, monthly utilities, including heating, cooling, electricity, and gas could cost between 100$ and 250$ a month.
However, for an apartment of about 85m2, your bills would amount to 145$.
Internet is expensive as well, amounting up to around 71$ a month.
SPORTS & LEISURE
There are places to hike and lots of nice short trails all over Vancouver, so you won’t have to spend a bunch of money on gyms or fitness clubs.
Though the city is not necessarily bike-friendly, you can go further away from the center and enjoy the nature there.
If you prefer indoor spaces, a gym membership will probably cost you around 48$ a month which is very reasonable, if not cheap.
CLOTHING & SHOES
Westfield Vancouver Shopping Center offers a variety of stores including large department stores like Nordstrom, Macy’s, Sears, and JCPenney.
There are over 120 stores, and the prices are relatively low – quality jeans cost around 52$, while summer dresses and shirts are around 50$.
Quality sneakers are more expensive, standing at around 90$.
RENT PER MONTH
Rent will probably eat up around 40-50% of your expenses.
It depends on the area where you’re trying to rent.
In Downtown Vancouver, you can find a reasonably sized apartment for no less than $1,200 if your lucky.
It may cost $2500–4000 per month for a larger apartment.
That said, you can still find really good deals if you search hard enough.
Cost of Living Averages Table for Vancouver, WA
*Note: All prices are indicated in USD.| Average Restaurant Prices | |
|---|---|
| Meal (Inexpensive Restaurant) | $17.50 |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 Liter) | $7.00 |
| Water (0.33 Liter) | $1.58 | Average Market Prices |
| Milk (1 Liter) | $1.13 |
| Loaf Bread (500g) | $3.44 |
| Eggs (12) | $6.00 | Average Transport Prices |
| One Way Ticket | $2.50 |
| Monthly Pass | $100.00 |
| Gasoline | $1.23 | Average Utilities Prices |
| Basic (Water, Electricity, Garbage, Heating, Cooling) | $176.00 |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local | $0.10 |
| Internet (Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | $71.11 | Average Leisure Prices |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | $46.67 |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour) | $12.00 |
| Cinema, 1 Seat, International Release | $12.50 | Average Clothing Prices |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Comparable) | $52.25 |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, etc...) | $50.0 |
| 1 Pair of Adidas Walking Shoes (Mid-Range) | $89.37 | Average Rent Prices |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Center | $1665.62 |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Center | $1385.22 |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Center | $3416.6 |
How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Vancouver, WA?
As for the expenses, the biggest chunk of the paycheck of Vancouver’s citizens gets spent on rent.
Rent will be your problem when it comes to finances since they’re definitely the main financial burden for the people of Vancouver.
As already mentioned, with more than 33% of one’s income being spent on rent, it can easily be said that it is skyrocketing beyond what most working people can afford.
The next biggest expense for the people of Vancouver is food and groceries.
What is also high is the percentage of restaurant expenses: namely as much as 15% of one’s entire salary gets spent on restaurants.
Average Costs Breakdown
Vancouver, WA: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages
People in Vancouver earn considerable amounts of money, and this is actually their normal standard of living.
With an average wage reaching far and beyond 4600$, citizens of Vancouver have enough money to cover all their expenses, afford most of the things they want and need, and still live comfortably.
Of course, those that are renting have a harder time since they’re spending a lot more money.
The minimum wage doesn’t fall far behind the average monthly salary, so citizens of Vancouver shouldn’t have problems making ends meet.
Vancouver Safety Overview
READ THE FULL REPORT: Vancouver Safety Review
Safety Index:
- OVERALL RISK: LOW
- TRANSPORT & TAXIS RISK: LOW
- PICKPOCKETS RISK: MEDIUM
- NATURAL DISASTERS RISK: LOW
- MUGGING RISK: LOW
- TERRORISM RISK: LOW
- SCAMS RISK: LOW
- WOMEN TRAVELERS RISK: LOW
I’ve been living in Vancouver for 7 months now and my friends say that it is expensive to live here than the other states, and I agree but I have a high-paying job which covers the expense so it is fine by me.
Just normalize cooking rather than eating out, it’s one of the best way to save up money here in WA.