Moving to Spokane, WA vs. Coeur D’Alene, ID | Cost of Living Differences

by Haydn Halsted

Deciding if you should move to Spokane or Coeur D’Alene is like picking between your two favorite children. You love both of them but they have different beautiful qualities that make them special in their own way. Today we’re going to focus on where your money will go when you live in these two cities to hopefully help you make a better financial decision for your situation.

For being only a 40 minute drive from downtown Spokane to Downtown Coeur D’alene, there’s actually quite a bit of difference in the cost of living once you cross the border.

These very differences are why the traffic coming into Spokane during morning rush hour and leaving Spokane during evening rush hour are so bad. For a long time, people were living in Idaho and working in Washington because it had the most financial benefit. Higher wages in Washington, lower cost of living in Idaho. Now this is all anecdotal from my perspective and personal experience, but I think most people from around here would agree. This stigma still holds true because that rush hour traffic has just gotten worse and worse over the years to where there truly is stand still traffic on I-90 during rush which to us locals has been a crazy thing to watch.

This blog post is meant to provide some numbers to this stigma. Is it actually cheaper to live in Idaho? Will you actually make more money in Washington? Is that 40 minute drive both ways (and that’s with no traffic by the way) worth it for you and your family?

1. HOUSING

The median age of a home in Spokane is 52.5% older than the median age of a home in Coeur d'Alene.

General Details	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Median Home Age	59	28	41
Median Home Cost	$335,100	$476,800	$291,700
Home Appr. Last 12 months	26.3%	31.1%	15.0%
Home Appr. Last 5 yrs.	95.7%	97.3%	42.4%
Home Appr. Last 10 yrs.	125.5%	170.4%	77.0%
Homes Owned	51.1%	48.7%	56.2%
Housing Vacant	7.5%	6.7%	12.1%
Homes Rented	41.4%	44.7%	31.6%

2. RENT

The Average Rent For Home or Apartment is 2.23% cheaper in Spokane than Coeur d'Alene.

Average Rent For Home Or Apartment	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Average Rent	$1,332	$1,362	$1,681
Studio Apartment	$636	$676	$949
1 Bedroom Home or Apartment	$722	$774	$1,048
2 Bedroom Home or Apartment	$938	$959	$1,278
3 Bedroom Home or Apartment	$1,332	$1,362	$1,681
4 Bedroom Home or Apartment	$1,584	$1,641	$1,950

3. INVENTORY

Vacant Housing	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Vacant For Rent	1.6%	1.6%	2.0%
Vacant Rented	0.4%	0.2%	0.4%
Vacant For Sale	0.9%	0.9%	0.9%
Vacant Sold	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%
Vacant Vacation	0.6%	2.3%	4.0%
Vacant Other	3.7%	1.3%	4.3%

Owner-Occupied Housing Value	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Less Than $20,000	1.5%	2.8%	2.7%
$20,000 to $39,999	0.9%	3.5%	2.7%
$40,000 to $59,999	0.6%	1.4%	3.4%
$60,000 to $79,999	2.8%	1.2%	4.7%
$80,000 to $99,999	4.9%	1.1%	5.5%
$100,000 to $149,999	21.0%	7.6%	13.3%
$150,000 to $199,999	23.2%	22.2%	14.0%
$200,000 to $299,999	24.8%	31.6%	19.6%
$300,000 to $399,999	10.8%	15.8%	12.2%
$400,000 to $499,999	4.5%	6.5%	7.1%
$500,000 to $749,999	3.6%	3.4%	8.2%
$750,000 to $999,999	0.8%	1.8%	3.2%
$1,000,000 to $1,499,999	0.2%	0.6%	1.8%
$1,500,000 to $1,999,999	0.0%	0.0%	0.7%
$2,000,000 and over	0.2%	0.6%	0.9%

Housing Units By Year Built	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
2015 and Newer	1.7%	5.8%	2.5%
2010 to 2014	1.9%	4.1%	2.7%
2000 to 2009	8.4%	21.8%	14.0%
1990 to 1999	9.7%	20.1%	13.9%
1980 to 1989	7.4%	9.0%	13.4%
1970 to 1979	13.7%	17.6%	15.2%
1960 to 1969	9.7%	20.1%	13.9%
1950 to 1959	14.4%	4.8%	10.3%
1940 to 1949	9.7%	2.7%	4.9%
1939 or Earlier	26.6%	9.9%	12.6%

4. TAXES & COST OF LIVING

Spokane's tax rate is 27.85% higher than Coeur d'Alene and 0.2% than US Average.

Property Tax	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Property Tax Rate	$11.2	$6.2	$11.4

General cost of Living	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Overall	92.3	106.2	100
Food & Groceries	98.8	101.7	100
Health	83.1	95.9	100
Housing	94.2	139.8	100
Median Home Cost	$217,900	$323,200	$231,200
Utilities	78.2	80.1	100
Transportation	91.1	80.3	100
Miscellaneous	97.9	99.1	100

100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)

5. HEALTH CARE

- There are 231 physicians per 100,000 people in Coeur d'Alene.
- There are 241 physicians per 100,000 people in Spokane.
- The US average is 210 physicians per 100,000 people.

Factors Affecting General Health	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Air Quality	44.4	52.6	58.4
Water Quality	38	48	55
Superfund Sites	73	88.7	86.9
Physicians per Cap.	241	231	210
Health Cost	83	96	100

(100 = best)

6. FUTURE GROWTH

- Job Growth in Coeur d'Alene has been positive.
- Coeur d'Alene has 1.7% more unemployment than Spokane.
- Coeur d'Alene job growth has increased by 22.0% in the past 10 years.

Job Market	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Current Unemployment	6.6%	4.9%	6.0%
Future Job Growth	33.4%	44.7%	33.5%
Recent Job Growth	-2.7%	-2.0%	-6.2%
3 Yr. Job Growth	2.5%	2.3%	-3.6%
5 Yr. Job Growth	7.6%	7.4%	-0.7%
10 Yr. Job Growth	6.0%	22.0%	6.3%

7. POPULATION

- Coeur d'Alene is 0.9% more densely populated than Spokane.
- People are 8.8% more likely to be married in Coeur d'Alene.
- The Median Age is 0.6 years older in Coeur d'Alene.

People	Spokane, WA	Coeur d'Alene, ID	United States
Population	222,050	53,354	329,484,123
Female Population	51.3%	50.4%	50.8%
Male Population	48.7%	49.7%	49.2%
Median Age	35.8	36.4	37.8
Married Population	44.4%	48.3%	50.2%
Population Density	3,229.0	3,346.1	93.3
Land Area	68.8	15.9	3,531,905.4
Water Area	0.7	0.7	264,836.8
Household Size	2.32	2.35	2.63
Households	88,683	20,090	118,825,921
Family Households	50,538	11,965	78,298,703
Married couple, w/children	28.6%	29.6%	31.1%
Married couple, no children	40.6%	44.1%	42.3%
Non Family Households	38,145	8,125	40,527,218
Single householder, w/children	21.2%	17.9%	16.3%
Single householder, no children	9.5%	8.4%	10.3%