12 Things Washingtonians Complain About but Would Never Give Up
The sun sets in Seattle at 4:34 p.m. today, and it’ll only get earlier from here.
Washingtonians grumble about it every year, even though most have no intentions of moving out of state.
Here are the things Washingtonians complain about but would never give up.
1. Rainy Winters
Sea-Tac Airport averages 6.31 inches of rain in November, the wettest month of the year in the federal climate normals.
December and January aren’t far behind, at 5.72 and 5.78 inches.
Pack your rain jacket.
July, by contrast, normally gets 0.60 inches, roughly a tenth of November’s total.
If you visit in July, you’ll catch the driest month of the year.
2. Ferry Lines
Washington State Ferries had nearly 7 million riders from Memorial Day through the last Sunday in August 2026.
That made it the busiest summer on the water since 2019.
On Aug. 8, the system had 99,557 riders in one day, the most since Aug. 17, 2019.
If you’ve waited in a ferry line, you’ve probably been one of those riders.
Through late August, six days in 2026 topped 90,000 riders.
All six were Saturdays.
Before Labor Day weekend, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) told riders to prepare for long lines and extended wait times.
Many riders grumble about the waits but board anyway.
3. Seattle Traffic
INRIX, a traffic analytics company, found that Seattle commuters spent 68 hours sitting in traffic in 2025.
That ranked Seattle’s roads 10th most congested in the country.
That’s nearly three days.
If you commute through Seattle, you’ve probably felt some of those hours on your drive.
4. Mountain Pass Closures
Snoqualmie and Stevens passes average more than 450 inches of snowfall each winter.
Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 carries about 28,000 vehicles a day.
When crews close I-90 for avalanche control, you’ll typically wait 30 minutes to two hours.
In severe conditions, the wait can stretch to several hours.
Plan on a wait.
US 2 over Stevens Pass runs the same routine, with control work covering twelve avalanche paths.
WSDOT also lists seasonal closures on State Route (SR) 410 over Chinook Pass and on SR 20 over Rainy and Washington passes.
If you skip chains when the signs are posted, you risk a $500 fine.
5. SR 520 Tolls
The SR 520 bridge connects Seattle to Bellevue, and crossing it with a Good To Go! pass costs up to $4.90 on weekdays.
That top rate applies from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
If you cross at 8 a.m. on a weekday, you’re paying that top rate.
Weekends and holidays top out at $2.95, and overnight rates drop to $1.35.
Tolls apply both ways.
Many commuters grumble about the tolls but cross anyway.
6. Sales Tax Without Income Tax
Washington’s sales tax starts at 6.5% statewide.
The trade-off is that the state doesn’t currently have an individual income tax.
Local rates stack on top, and if you shop in Seattle, your combined rate is 10.55% in the fourth quarter of 2026.
If you buy a $200 jacket in Seattle, the tax comes to $21.10.
The total is $221.10.
Oregon, Washington’s neighbor to the south, doesn’t have a general sales tax.
What Washington’s New Income Tax Covers
Washington’s new income tax is 9.9%, and it begins Jan. 1, 2028.
It applies to individuals and married couples filing jointly with annual adjusted gross income exceeding $1 million.
The first return is due in April 2029.
State lawmakers created the tax in 2026, and the Department of Revenue says it’ll add filing details to its page later.
7. Mariners Heartbreak
The Mariners are the only Major League Baseball (MLB) team that has never played in a World Series.
Seattle won the 2025 American League West title.
The team then came eight outs from the World Series before losing Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
The final score was 4-3.
If you watched Game 7, you saw the Mariners waste a lead.
In late September 2026, the Mariners fell out of playoff contention.
Many fans grumble about the team but keep rooting anyway.
8. Seattle Freeze
The Seattle Freeze is the belief that it’s hard to make new social connections in the city.
If you’re new to Seattle, you’ve probably heard the term already.
A 2026 study in the International Journal of Wellbeing looked at adults living in Seattle.
It included two studies.
People who believed in the Freeze more strongly reported a weaker sense of belonging and fewer local friends.
In the second study, being exposed to the idea that the Freeze is true was linked to lower ratings of Seattleites’ friendliness and warmth.
The phrase itself dates to a 2005 Seattle Times story.
If you’ve lived here a while, you may already have an opinion on the Freeze.
9. Early Dark
By Nov. 14, Seattle’s sunset is already at 4:34 p.m.
On Dec. 21, the sun doesn’t rise until 7:55 a.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Daylight lasts under 8.5 hours.
If you leave work at 5 p.m. on Dec. 21, you’ll drive home after sunset.
On June 21, the sun doesn’t set until 9:11 p.m., nearly five hours later than on Dec. 21.
10. Discover Pass Prices
A Discover Pass is required to park at Washington State Parks and at recreation lands run by the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources.
The annual pass is $45, and the one-day pass is $10.
Before Oct. 1, 2025, the annual pass cost $30.
That’s a 50% jump.
If you park at state lands often, you’ll notice the increase.
The annual pass costs less than five one-day passes, so it pays off if you hike a lot.
11. Trail Permits
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest hands out most Enchantments overnight permits through an advanced lottery held Feb. 15 through March 1 each year.
The Forest Service says demand for those permits far exceeds the number available.
In the Enchantments’ Core Zone, only 24 visitors can enter per day, with 16 spaces through the advanced lottery and eight through the daily lottery.
The application fee is $6.
It’s non-refundable, and you can only get one permit per season.
Leftover permits go first come, first served through Recreation.gov.
Overnight stays in the permit area require a permit from May 15 through Oct. 31.
If you want to camp there in summer, you’ll apply in February or take your chances on the leftovers.
Psst! How much do you know about Washington State? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Evergreen State Trivia
Answer these questions on Washington’s symbols, history, and geography. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which sport did Washington lawmakers name the official state sport?
12. Home Prices
The median value of an owner-occupied home in Seattle was $938,600 in the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 estimates.
The U.S. median was $332,700.
That's nearly triple.
Many locals complain about housing prices but stay anyway.
If you rent in Seattle, those same estimates put the median gross rent at $2,030, compared with $1,413 nationwide.
If you're looking outside Seattle, the statewide median home value was $564,600 and the median gross rent was $1,760.
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