Buying the median home in Tacoma means financing $450,000. Against the area's $68,000 median household income, that works out to a 6.6x price-to-income ratio.
Factor in $405/month for property tax in Tacoma, based on the area's 1.08% effective rate applied to the median home price. That's $4,860 annually.
Washington charges no state income tax. Every dollar of the $68,000 median household income here converts more directly into covering the $2,926/month payment.
Tacoma's cost of living index is 108, above the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
Tacoma's median home price runs 42% lower than nearby Seattle: $780,000 there versus $450,000 here.