Idaho vs Washington: Cost of Living, Taxes, Rent and Safety Compared
Weighing a move between Idaho and Washington? Here’s how they compare on the numbers that decide most moves, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states.
Shaded cells are the lower-cost, higher-income or lower-risk figure. Indexes: U.S. average = 100.
What it means for your budget
Rent alone: moving from Idaho to Washington changes a typical two-bedroom rent by +$677 a month (+$8,124 a year); the move the other way flips the sign. Taxes, pay, insurance and the move itself shift too, and how much depends on your income, your household and the city you pick.
That’s exactly what Locustep’s Net-Impact Report works out: your take-home pay after state and local taxes in both places, rent or buy for your budget, insurance and moving costs, and the month the move pays for itself.
Which state fits you better?
On Locustep’s directional scores, Washington leads on job market, remote-work infrastructure, infrastructure and transport, walkability and airport access. Which of those matters depends entirely on you.
Where people look in each state
Idaho
Boise
$1,540/mo two-bedroom
Boise is a clean, outdoorsy, fast-growing high-desert capital with a river greenbelt through the middle and mountains just north. Formerly cheap and no longer, politically conservative statewide but moderate in town, with excellent air and easy access to wilderness.
Coeur d'Alene
$1,507/mo two-bedroom
Coeur d'Alene is a scenic lake town in Idaho's panhandle, popular with retirees and Washington transplants. Beautiful summers, snowy winters, a tourism-and-services economy, and housing costs that have climbed far faster than local wages.
Idaho Falls
$1,274/mo two-bedroom
Idaho Falls is an eastern Idaho city near Yellowstone and the Tetons, anchored by the Idaho National Laboratory. Cheap, quiet, family-oriented and heavily LDS, with a surprisingly strong engineering job market for its size.
Seattle is a tech-money city between mountains and water — grey and drizzly for eight months, glorious in summer, with strong coffee, seafood and outdoor culture. Expensive, traffic-choked, and socially reserved in a way transplants notice quickly.
Spokane
$1,494/mo two-bedroom
Spokane is eastern Washington's hub — dramatically cheaper than Seattle, drier, with real four-season weather and lakes and skiing nearby. More conservative, smaller job market, and a revitalising downtown along a genuinely nice river gorge.
Tacoma
$2,064/mo two-bedroom
Tacoma is Seattle's more affordable, more working-class neighbour with a real port, a good museum district and views of Mount Rainier. Commuting north is slow; the tradeoff is housing you can actually buy.
On rent, Idaho is cheaper: a typical two-bedroom is $1,367 a month against $2,044 (HUD FY2027). Everyday costs, housing excluded, index at 98.0 in Idaho and 104.1 in Washington (U.S. = 100). Whether you come out ahead also depends on your pay and taxes in each state.
Which has lower taxes, Idaho or Washington?
Idaho. A married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 6.3% of it in state and local taxes, against 7.2% in Washington (Locustep estimate). Washington has no tax on wages; Idaho’s top rate is 5.3%.
Is Idaho safer than Washington?
By violent crime, Idaho is lower: 230.6 per 100,000 residents against 326.1 (FBI, 2024). On natural hazards, FEMA puts Idaho at the 31st percentile and Washington at the 64th (lower is safer).
Which has better weather, Idaho or Washington?
It depends what you want. Winter afternoons average 41°F in Boise and 48°F in Seattle; summer afternoons 88°F and 75°F (NOAA 1991–2020). Idaho: four distinct seasons. Washington: mild, mediterranean-style.