Bellingham vs Medford
Metro-area medians — Bellingham, WA Metro Area vs Medford, OR Metro Area — not the cities proper.
Bellingham comes out ahead, winning 6 of the 9 clearly-decided measures.
Bellingham and Medford cost about the same to live in, but Bellingham households earn about 15% more. Adjusted for local prices, a typical paycheck stretches further in Bellingham.
Their widest everyday difference: Bellingham is more educated — 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree versus 33.8%.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you, Bellingham leaves you about $4,812/yr better off after tax and local prices.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
Choose Bellingham for
- + Livability (CityLedger)
- + Cost-adjusted income (pay's real value)
- + Median household income
- + Unemployment
- + Bachelor's degree or higher
- + Air quality (median AQI)
More comparisons
Metros closest to Bellingham and Medford on cost, income, size, and education.
Bellingham vs Medford — frequently asked
- Is Bellingham cheaper than Medford?
- They are about even — the overall cost of living in the Bellingham and Medford metros is within 3% of each other (BEA Regional Price Parities), so neither is meaningfully cheaper.
- Which has higher household income, Bellingham or Medford?
- Bellingham has the higher median household income — $86,162 versus $74,653 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS), about 15% more.
- Does a paycheck go further in Bellingham or Medford?
- A paycheck stretches further in Bellingham. Adjusted for local prices, the median income is worth $83,382 there versus $73,598 in Medford.
- Which has cheaper rent, Bellingham or Medford?
- Medford has cheaper rent — a median of $1,369/mo versus $1,569/mo (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS).