Quality of Life in Seattle, WA, United States

Purchasing Power Index 155.13   Very High
Safety Index 45.07   Moderate
Health Care Index 67.24   High
Climate Index 91.73   Very High
Cost of Living Index 84.75   High
Property Price to Income Ratio 5.68   Low
Traffic Commute Time Index 46.65   High
Pollution Index 39.41   Low
ƒ Quality of Life Index: 178.31   Very High

Minimum contributors for an underlying section: 155

Maximum contributors for an underlying section: 329

Last update: April 2024

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4 Comments so far
Jarrett on Mar 07, 2024:
Hello. First off I just wanna say, great website. There's a ton of intriguing data here. I've lived in the Seattle metro area for over 11 years now and I'm a little perplexed as to how high the climate score is. The months of October thru April in particular. Not sure how you get those numbers but IMO they should be way lower. The incessant clouds, rain, chilly temperatures, and short days make December thru February especially miserable. Here's some data from Weather.com: March hi:55° lo:39°, April hi:59° lo:43°, and May hi:65° lo:48° Those are the only months I'm able to view as of today. As you can see they're a few degrees lower than what you have. Thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it.
fabric.factrix@hotmail.com on Jan 05, 2023:
I find it hard to believe that the property cost to income is low! Ridiculous. Also the safety index can hardly be described as moderate.
Mack on Apr 28, 2022:
I visited Cairns, Sydney, and Melbourne for about 6-weeks in 2007. I have lived in Seattle, WA since 2007. Comparing the two is like apples and oranges for me. They're both nice, but the novelty of Australia as a Yank was enamoring. Seattle was culturally different than the Midwest, so it had its charm as well -- except people in Seattle are not as friendly to strangers (known as the 'Seattle Freeze'). They are cordial, but not very inviting -- difficult to make friends (allegedly a nordic thing, of which there are many here of that lineage). Now, there is a huge homeless presence with drugs and violence and many shootings within areas of downtown. Property crime is rampant and the police aren't very accesdible or helpful for this or personal assaults from crazy street people. This and soaring rent and property costs are driving out life-lifelong residents. Traffic is horrible since so much of the geography is limited for transpirtation development due to being bounded by water all around and congestion. Drivers are aggressive and change lanes unannounced many times uselessly attempting to get ahead. Upside, there are neighborhoods to settle in and enjoy. Lots of activities for adventure or culture. Great health-care facilities and physicians. It's very expensive here, though Sidney is similarly. The weather is mild/moderate and it doesn't really rain as much as people say. I wwan't in Australia long enough to become bored or disenchanted. I'd still consider Sydney for retirement since I'm that age. Either choice is good if you're fortunate for it to be viable.
Mack on Apr 28, 2022:
I visited Cairns, Sydney, and Melbourne for about 6-weeks in 2007. I have lived in Seattle, WA since 2007. Comparing the two is like apples and oranges for me. They're both nice, but the novelty of Australia as a Yank was enamoring. Seattle was culturally different than the Midwest, so itbhad its charm as well -- except people in Seattle are not as friendly to strangers (known as the 'Seattle freeze). They are cordial, but not very inviting -- difficult to make friends (allegedly a nordic thing, of which there are many here of that lineage). Now, there is a huge homeless presence with drugs and violence and many shootings within areas of downtown. Property crime is rampant and the police aren't very accesdible or helpful for this or personal assaults from crazy street people. This and soaring rent and property costs are driving out life-lifelong residents. Traffic is horrible since so much of the geography is limited for transpirtation development due to being bounded by water alll around and congestion. Drivers are aggressive and change lanes unannounced many times uselessly attempting to get ahead. Upside, there are neighborhoods to settle in and enjoy. Lots of activities for adventure or culture. Great health-care facilities and physicians. It's very expensive here, though Sidney is similarly. The weather is mild/moderate and it doesn't really rain as much as people say. I wwan't in Australia long enough to become bored or disenchanted. I'd still consider Sydney for retirement since I'm that age. Either choice is good if you're fortunate for it to be viable.