Understanding Rising Housing Costs In Washington State Today

How much are you paying for housing in Washington state? It seems to be going up every year. Except for a minor blip in 2022, Zillow claims that the price of housing in Washington has been going up since 2017, which is when Zillow started keeping track. 

Nationwide, the cost of housing fluctuates from time to time, but seems to be making a gradual increase from year to year. So, the question is, how does Washington compare to the rest of the country when it comes to housing costs? 

According to theolympian.com,
‘Personal finance website WalletHub recently released a report on where people spend the most and least on housing by state, looking at both owners and renters. Here’s how Washington fared.’ 

WalletHub used data from several sources including the Council for Community and Economic Research, the US Census Bureau and research from Zillow and WalletHub to come up with the rankings. 

What they present is the average percentage of income needed to own a home in any particular state. 

The number one ranking for the most expensive states should be no surprise, it's Hawaii. Residents there spend an average of 54.47% of their income for housing. 

Rounding out the top five. 

California - 45.99%  

Oregon - 36.27%  

Nevada - 35.29%  

Washington - 34.82% 

Now in the least expensive to own a home category the bottom five are. 

Ohio - 20.38%  

Nebraska - 20.37%  

Kansas - 20.12%  

West Virginia - 19.94%  

Iowa -18.84% 

If you're renting, the numbers are a little different, but Hawaii comes out at #2 as the most expensive state to rent a home.  

New York comes out number one. 54.52% of total income. Washington state actually comes out near the middle of the pack for renting at #18 spending 30.02 % of income. 

The depressing part of this report to me is it looks like it will never be cheaper to buy or rent in the United States.  

Where are cheapest and most expensive U.S. housing markets? | The Olympian
States Where People Spend the Most & Least on Housing
Housing Affordability