Moving to Washington
New residents have 30 days to get a Washington driver license and must register a car within 30 days. Prices are 7.0% above the U.S. average, and there is no state income tax on wages. 122,184 households moved here from other states in 2022–2023, most often from California and Oregon.
New resident checklist for Washington
Driver license
Within 30 days of moving. You must get the Washington license before you can register your vehicle. Before your appointment, use the Washington motor vehicle agency's document checklist for the license type you choose. Standard and REAL ID requirements can differ, including accepted identity and address documents, name-change records and Social Security documentation or permitted alternatives.
Vehicle title and registration
Register within 30 days of moving; bring the current title and odometer reading to a vehicle licensing office. Washington has no statewide safety or emissions inspection. Switch your auto insurance to a Washington policy.
Taxes or fees on a car you bring: Use tax (rate based on where you live, on fair market value) is due at registration unless the vehicle was acquired and used in another state more than 90 days before the move. Credit for sales/use tax paid elsewhere. Motor homes, trailers and ORVs don't qualify for the exemption.
Annual registration: Basic fee of $43.25 plus weight fees, filing and service fees. Local transportation benefit district fees apply in some cities, and in the Sound Transit district an RTA excise tax is added based on vehicle value.
Extra yearly fee for an electric vehicle: $225.
Establishing residency
Resident once you move to Washington to live (for example, you register to vote, get resident tuition or a resident license, or have a Washington home); triggers the 30-day clock. Residency also decides where you pay income tax in the year you move; see taxes the year you move.
Your first-month checklist in Washington
- Register to vote at your new address.
- Update your address with the IRS (Form 8822), your employer and your bank.
- Washington has no income tax on wages. Tell payroll where you live and physically work, and review withholding for every state that may tax your pay. Keeping a job in another state, commuting, remote-work sourcing rules or income earned before the move can leave an old-state obligation. A new address alone does not mean all old-state withholding should stop. See moving-year tax guidance and your states' official instructions.
- Set up utilities and get renters or homeowners insurance. Owners with a mortgage here paid a median $1,301 a year for homeowners insurance in 2024 (Census ACS); premiums have risen in most states since, so get quotes.
- Keep your lease or closing papers and your license date as proof of when you became a resident.
Still planning the move itself? The moving out of state checklist covers the weeks before you go, and the moving timeline turns your move date into dated deadlines. Our guide to moving with pets covers vet records, travel and local pet rules. Shipping a car? See shipping a car to another state, or take the Where should I move? quiz.
Official site: dol.wa.gov. Sources: dor.wa.gov, dol.wa.gov (2), app.leg.wa.gov, app.leg.wa.gov (2). Reviewed 2026-09-25. Rules and fees change; confirm with the Washington motor vehicle agency before you go.
Compare your move to Washington
Pick the state you're leaving and your salary to see your take-home pay, rent and the salary that keeps your buying power the same in Washington.
Equal salary in WA: $89,500
To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $89,500 in Washington to match $100,000 in California ($10,500 less), after 2026 taxes and local prices.
Single filer, W-2 salary, standard deduction.
The renter figure uses ACS gross rent, which includes tenant-paid electricity, gas, water/sewer and fuels. The buyer figure adds electricity separately to mortgage, property tax and insurance. Food, transport, healthcare, other spending and one-time moving costs are excluded. These are selected-cost changes, not total savings. State medians may differ from your neighborhood and current quotes.
| Tax on $100,000 | California | Washington |
|---|---|---|
| Federal income tax | $13,170 | $13,170 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $7,650 | $7,650 |
| State income tax | $4,911 | $0 |
| State payroll programs (UI, disability, paid leave, transit) | $1,300 | $1,387 |
| Take-home pay | $72,969 | $77,793 |
Full reports for the most common moves to Washington: California to Washington, Oregon to Washington, Texas to Washington, Arizona to Washington, Florida to Washington and Idaho to Washington.
Living in Washington: costs, taxes and risk
Of the 51 (the 50 states and D.C.), Washington is in the best 10 for state income tax and household income, and in the worst 10 for rent, cost to own a home, overall prices and modeled natural hazard county-score means.
- Median rent
- $1,824/mo U.S. $1,487
- Cost to own the median home
- $3,786/mo U.S. $2,354
- Take-home on $100,000
- $77,793 $2,714 more than in the median state
- Property tax (effective)
- 0.79% median $4,729/yr
- County-score mean
- 92.8 of 100 Very high county-score mean
- Moved in from other states
- 122,184 households, IRS 2022–2023
Pros and cons of living in Washington
How Washington ranks among all 51 (the 50 states and D.C.) on 11 measures of costs, taxes, risk and income. Top 10 means among the 10 best for someone moving in, Bottom 10 among the 10 worst.
Where Washington ranks best
- Top 10 Lowest state income tax: no tax on wages, tied with 8 other states for the lowest.
- Top 10 Highest household incomes: $99,389 median household income (Census ACS 2024), 8th highest of 51.
Where Washington ranks worst
- Bottom 5 Highest rent: $1,824 a month at the median (Census ACS 2024), 5th highest of 51.
- Bottom 5 Highest cost to own a home: $3,786 a month for the median home with 20% down, 5th highest of 51.
- Bottom 10 Highest overall prices: price level 107.0 (U.S. = 100, BEA 2024), 6th highest of 51.
- Bottom 10 Highest modeled county-score means: Population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores: 92.8 of 100, 10th highest of 51.
Measures: state income tax, overall prices, rent, cost to own a home, property tax rate, homeowners insurance, electric bills, car insurance, health premiums, modeled natural hazard county-score means, household income. State income tax is for a single filer earning $100,000 under 2026 rules, including the average county income tax in Indiana and Maryland. Ties share a rank.
Where new Washington residents come from
In the latest IRS migration data (2022–2023), 122,184 households filed their taxes in Washington after filing in another state the year before. California sent the most, 24,625 households (20% of the total). Washington gained a net 9,839 households from other states that year.
Five-year trend
Moves to Washington from other states peaked in 2021–22 at 125,668 households, then held roughly steady to 122,184 in 2022–23, up 6% from 2018–19. Washington gained households from other states on net in all five years.
IRS SOI state-to-state migration files, tax years 2018–19 to 2022–23. Net gain or loss by year: 2018–19 +20,742, 2019–20 +13,437, 2020–21 +3,718, 2021–22 +3,205, 2022–23 +9,839.
Cost of living in Washington vs the U.S.
Overall prices in Washington are 7.0% above the U.S. average, 46th cheapest of 51. The widest gap is in housing rents (126.0), 26% above the U.S. level.
The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024.
- Average electric bill
- $124/mo U.S. $151
- Car insurance, per car
- $1,153/yr U.S. $1,282
- Health plan, age 40
- $612/mo U.S. $625
EIA 2025 average residential bills, NAIC 2023 average auto insurance expenditure, KFF 2026 benchmark silver Marketplace premium before subsidies.
Taxes in Washington: take-home pay at three incomes
Washington has no state income tax on wages. Workers also pay about $1,387 a year in state payroll programs at $100,000, which the take-home figures include. Here is what a single filer keeps after 2026 federal and state taxes, compared with the middle of all 51.
| Salary | WA income tax | Take-home | vs. median state |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $0 | $41,661 | +$883 |
| $100,000 | $0 | $77,793 | +$2,714 |
| $150,000 | $0 | $111,710 | +$4,124 |
Single filer, 2026 tax rules, standard deduction. Take-home is after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Washington income and payroll taxes. "vs. median state" is the difference from the median take-home of all 51 at the same salary. For married filing jointly, change the filing status in the calculator above.
The statewide sales tax rate is 6.5% before any local sales taxes. Homeowners pay a median $4,729 a year in property tax, 0.79% of the median home value (property tax by county). Retiring? See how Washington taxes Social Security and pensions. Moving mid-year? Read about taxes the year you move.
Cities in Washington: where a paycheck goes furthest
Of the 4 Washington metro areas we cover, Spokane is the best value: about $76,800 there buys what $75,000 buys in an average-priced area with no state income tax. Seattle takes the most, $86,400.
| Metro area | Salary to match $75k | Price level | Median rent | Median home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane | $76,800 | 100.3 | $1,405 | $434,300 |
| Olympia | $79,800 | 103.7 | $1,829 | $525,500 |
| Bremerton | $81,500 | 105.6 | $1,869 | $579,700 |
| Seattle | $86,400 | 111.1 | $2,050 | $743,000 |
Salary to match $75k: the pay that leaves the same after-tax, price-adjusted income as $75,000 in an area at U.S. average prices with no state income tax, single filer, including the principal city's own income tax where it has one. BEA 2024 price levels (U.S. = 100) and Census ACS 2024 rent and home values for each metro area.
Parts of Washington also belong to the Portland metro area, which is centered outside Washington.
Housing and home insurance in Washington
| Measure | Washington | U.S. |
|---|---|---|
| Median rent (monthly) | $1,824 | $1,487 |
| Median home value | $602,200 | $360,600 |
| Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down) | $3,786 | $2,354 |
| Income needed to buy the median home | $162,244 | $100,903 |
| Median property tax (yearly) | $4,729 | $3,211 |
| Homeowners insurance (yearly median, homes with a mortgage) | $1,301 | $1,450 |
Census ACS 2024 rent, home value and property tax, and ACS 2024 homeowners insurance. Cost to own: principal and interest at the Freddie Mac 30-year average (7.24%) with 20% down, plus the median property tax and the median homeowners insurance paid by owners with a mortgage. Premiums have risen since 2024, especially in high-risk areas, so get quotes. See buying a home in Washington for other down payments.
Natural disaster risk in Washington
RelocateMath's population-weighted mean of FEMA county risk scores for Washington is 92.8 of 100 (very high county-score mean), ranked 42 of 51 from lowest to highest mean. This is not an official FEMA state rating or a national state percentile, and it does not predict whether a particular home is safe. Modeled expected losses from natural hazards average about $613 per resident a year, and about 57% of residents live in counties FEMA rates relatively high or very high.
The vertical line marks county-score scale midpoint (50).
See disaster risk for every Washington county and how to check a home's risk before you move.
Frequently asked questions
Where do people moving to Washington come from?
In IRS migration data for 2022–2023, 122,184 households moved to Washington from other states. The most came from California (24,625 households), Oregon (15,339) and Texas (9,307).
What are the pros and cons of living in Washington?
Where Washington ranks best among the 50 states and D.C.: lowest state income tax, tied with 8 other states for the lowest; highest household incomes, 8th highest of 51. Where it ranks worst: highest rent, 5th highest of 51; highest cost to own a home, 5th highest of 51; highest overall prices, 6th highest of 51; highest modeled county-score means, 10th highest of 51.
Is Washington expensive to live in?
Overall prices in Washington are 7.0% above the U.S. average (BEA price level 107.0, 2024), 46th cheapest of 51. Median rent is $1,824 a month and the median home is worth $602,200.
How long do I have to get a Washington driver license after moving?
30 days after becoming a resident. Within 30 days of moving. You must get the Washington license before you can register your vehicle.
How long do I have to register my car in Washington?
30 days. Register within 30 days of moving; bring the current title and odometer reading to a vehicle licensing office. Washington has no statewide safety or emissions inspection.
Do new residents pay tax on a car brought to Washington?
Use tax (rate based on where you live, on fair market value) is due at registration unless the vehicle was acquired and used in another state more than 90 days before the move. Credit for sales/use tax paid elsewhere. Motor homes, trailers and ORVs don't qualify for the exemption.
What makes me a Washington resident?
Resident once you move to Washington to live (for example, you register to vote, get resident tuition or a resident license, or have a Washington home); triggers the 30-day clock.