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Cost & Benefits

Compare / Columbus to Spokane

Columbus, OH vs Spokane, WA

Simple answer

You'd likely save $108 a month in Spokane.

This is the HUD 2-bedroom fair-market rent for October 2026 through September 2027. It is not your lease.

The largest cost gap in this pair is goods prices. BEA goods prices, the groceries and goods comparison, are 11.4 index points higher in Spokane (105.0 versus 93.6).

Ohio taxes wages at a flat 2.75%. Washington has no tax on wages. Combined sales tax differs by 2.2 percentage points, higher in Washington. The effective property tax gap is 0.44 percentage points, higher in Ohio.

After a move from Ohio to Washington, those two example households keep the same benefit status labels. A different income can still split Medicaid and marketplace credits.

A $75,000 salary in Columbus lines up with about $78,831 in Spokane on the 2024 all-items price parity. Census median gross rent and the commute figures are 2024. Fair Market Rents are fiscal year 2027.

Columbus

Columbus, OH

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,602
HUD area
Columbus, OH HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,359
All-items price parity
95.5
Goods price parity
93.6
Utilities price parity
95.5
Mean commute
24.1 min
Median household income
$82,938

Spokane

Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA

2-bedroom Fair Market Rent
$1,494
HUD area
Spokane, WA HUD Metro FMR Area
Census median gross rent
$1,405
All-items price parity
100.3
Goods price parity
105.0
Utilities price parity
91.2
Mean commute
22.5 min
Median household income
$84,350

Equivalent salary

The first number keeps the same place in the national price level. The second also runs 2026 federal income tax, employee Social Security and Medicare, and a simplified state income tax. Groceries use the BEA goods price parity, not a grocery receipt.

Same buying power

$78,831

Salary in Spokane that matches the 2024 all-items regional price parity.

After state and federal tax

$76,215

Gross salary in Spokane whose after-tax pay buys the same basket, using price parities.

Rent only

$69,944

Scales the salary by the ratio of HUD 2-bedroom Fair Market Rents. Rent is not the whole budget.

Taxes on the two sides of the move

TaxOhioWashington
State income tax on wages2.75% flatNo wage tax
Combined sales tax, Jan 1, 20267.3%9.5%
Effective property tax, ACS 2024 median / median1.22%0.79%

On a $400,000 home, the state median effective rate implies about $4,899 a year in Ohio and $3,141 in Washington. That illustration is not a local bill. Childcare prices are not in the verified dataset for these metros.

Benefits if you land in Washington

Same household, $40,000 a year, scored once in Ohio and once in Washington. This is an illustration, not your application.

  • Food stamps (SNAP)

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • Medicaid and CHIP

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • WIC

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • School meals

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • LIHEAP

    ColumbusMaybe

    SpokaneMaybe

  • Earned Income Tax Credit

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • Child Tax Credit

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • Marketplace premium tax credits

    ColumbusUnlikely

    SpokaneUnlikely

  • Lifeline phone and internet

    ColumbusLikely eligible

    SpokaneLikely eligible

  • SSI

    ColumbusUnlikely

    SpokaneUnlikely

At $40,000 the status labels match. A single adult around $18,000 is where Medicaid expansion and the marketplace coverage gap usually split.

Medicaid guide for Washington · SNAP guide

Related comparisons

From Columbus

The eight largest 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent gaps from Columbus.

Nearby metros

How the salary and tax math works · The reverse city order redirects to this address.