Washington vs Oregon: which really costs more?
The cleanest structural contrast in the United States: Washington has no income tax but a high sales tax, Oregon has no sales tax but one of the highest effective income tax rates. Neighbors, opposite designs.
Income tax shown is the effective state rate on a $75,000 salary for a single filer; sales tax is the combined state and local rate in each state's representative county. Both figures come from the same verified datasets the calculator uses.
What things actually cost in each
Gross income required at a $75,000 salary, using each category's default assumptions — sorted by the biggest difference between the two states.
| Category | Washington | Oregon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home purchase | $1,133,114 | $1,343,409 | $210,296 cheaper in Washington |
| Car purchase | $132,759 | $146,975 | $14,216 cheaper in Washington |
| Car payment or lease | $16,529 | $18,877 | $2,348 cheaper in Washington |
| Wedding | $46,725 | $48,765 | $2,040 cheaper in Washington |
| Funeral | $11,372 | $12,987 | $1,615 cheaper in Washington |
| Phone plan | $9,794 | $11,186 | $1,391 cheaper in Washington |
| Coffee habit | $25,613 | $26,696 | $1,083 cheaper in Washington |
| Rent | $2,559 | $2,922 | $363 cheaper in Washington |
| Childcare | $1,564 | $1,786 | $222 cheaper in Washington |
| Hotel stay | $994 | $1,136 | $141 cheaper in Washington |
| Pet annual cost | $2,411 | $2,513 | $102 cheaper in Washington |
| Health insurance premium | $640 | $731 | $91 cheaper in Washington |
| Student loan payment | $569 | $649 | $81 cheaper in Washington |
| Laptop or phone purchase | $1,869 | $1,948 | $79 cheaper in Washington |
| Domestic flight | $466 | $532 | $66 cheaper in Washington |
| Utilities | $299 | $341 | $42 cheaper in Washington |
| Weekly groceries | $249 | $284 | $35 cheaper in Washington |
| Car insurance | $235 | $268 | $33 cheaper in Washington |
| Cannabis (legal states) | $101 | $115 | $14 cheaper in Washington |
| Internet service | $100 | $114 | $14 cheaper in Washington |
| Concert ticket | $212 | $224 | $12 cheaper in Washington |
| Gas fill-up | $64 | $73 | $9 cheaper in Washington |
| Haircut | $60 | $68 | $8 cheaper in Washington |
| Restaurant dinner | $150 | $156 | $6 cheaper in Washington |
| Rideshare trip | $31 | $36 | $4 cheaper in Washington |
| Food delivery | $55 | $59 | $4 cheaper in Washington |
| Pizza delivery | $58 | $62 | $4 cheaper in Washington |
| Gym membership | $70 | $73 | $3 cheaper in Washington |
| Streaming bundle | $70 | $73 | $3 cheaper in Washington |
| Soft drinks | $37 | $39 | $2 cheaper in Washington |
| Fast food meal | $19 | $19 | $1 cheaper in Washington |
| Bar drink | $17 | $18 | $1 cheaper in Washington |
| Cigarettes or vape | $14 | $15 | $1 cheaper in Washington |
Across the 33 categories we can compute for both states, Washington comes out cheaper more often. That is not the whole picture — housing costs, wages, and property tax vary far more than sales tax does, and none of those are modeled here. See limitations.