($1,677) Movers From Grand Rapids, MI to Tacoma, WA

What to know before moving from Grand Rapids to Tacoma

Moving from Grand Rapids to Tacoma means adjusting to a different pace of life — and a different price tag. On average, it costs significantly more to live in Grand Rapids than in Tacoma, making the move an opportunity for many to enjoy a lower cost of living.

Check out how Grand Rapids compares to Tacoma so you know what to expect before you relocate:

• Rent prices are the same in Tacoma and Grand Rapids.
• In terms of homeownership, you’ll be able to get more for your money in Grand Rapids.
  Home prices in Tacoma are 45.4% higher than in Grand Rapids.
• Income in Tacoma is 15.9% higher than in Grand Rapids, so you could earn more for doing the same job. The top employers in Tacoma include Joint Base Lewis-McChord, MultiCare Health System, and State of Washington.
• The cost of living for a single person in Tacoma is 22.5% lower than in Grand Rapids. This includes routine expenses like utilities, groceries, clothing, and transportation.
• If you’re moving your family to Tacoma, keep in mind that your living expenses could increase. The cost of living for a family in Tacoma is 1.4% higher than in Grand Rapids.
• The unemployment rate in Tacoma is 69.77% higher than in Grand Rapids.
• You’ll spend more on retail and restaurants in Tacoma, since the city’s sales taxes in Tacoma are 71.67% higher than in Grand Rapids.
• One perk of moving to Tacoma is paying less in state income taxes, which are 100.00% lower than in Grand Rapids.

To put this in perspective, you would need around $2,324.96 in Tacoma to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with $3,000.00 in Grand Rapids.

How life is different in Grand Rapids vs. Tacoma

• The population of Tacoma is about 13% greater than Grand Rapids, so you may find more to see and do in your new surroundings. Of course, with more people can also come increased competition for jobs and housing.
• Your access to buses, shuttles, trams, or trains in Tacoma will be about the same as it currently is in Grand Rapids. The cities share a similar public transportation score, which means their transit systems are comparable in terms of how connected they are, how often they provide service, and how close they are to jobs, housing, retail and food stores, and other important locations.
• You’ll find Tacoma to be about as walkable as Grand Rapids. The two cities have similar walkability scores of 54 and 56 respectively out of 100 in terms of how close housing is to businesses, recreational facilities, and jobs.
• You probably won’t see as many cycling lanes or off-road trails in Tacoma, which is ranked as less bike-friendly than Grand Rapids. While Grand Rapids has a bike-friendliness score of 52 out of 100, Tacoma earned a 48. Scores are based on factors like whether a city accommodates cyclists on major roadways, how often people bike to work, and how many steep hills it has.
• The crime rate in Tacoma is higher than in Grand Rapids, so you may want to exercise a little extra caution as you're acclimating to your new location. While the crime index is 55.55 in Tacoma, it is 44.23 in Grand Rapids. With this index, the lower the score, the better, since it indicates a city’s crime levels.
• You may want to exercise more caution as you’re getting used to your new surroundings in Tacoma. With a crime index of 44.45, Tacoma ranks lower in overall safety than Grand Rapids, whose index is Grand Rapids's 55.77. The safety index measures how safe people in a city feel about walking alone, both during the day and at night, as well as data on muggings, theft, vandalism, and other instances of petty crime.
• The air quality in Tacoma and Grand Rapids is generally the same (Good). Cities with good to moderate ratings have clean or acceptable air quality, with the possibility of small pollutants affecting people with certain health conditions like asthma. Anything beyond the moderate rate means increased impact on residents.