Counties / Washington / Okanogan County

Okanogan County, WA

FIPS 53047 · population 43,425 · outside every metro area

$319k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$319k
▲ 0.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$887
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,043
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+56.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.9%FHFA HPI2025−1.5%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$300k
Surveyed gross rent$887
Rent burden 30%+39.2%
Median year built1982
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
20.8%vacant
22,156estimated housing units
Occupied tenure27.6% renter
owner 72.4%renter 27.6%
Structure mix73.7% single-family
Single-family 73.7%20+ units 2.1%Mobile home 17.6%Other 6.5%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs17,597▲ 3.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,640annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$969▲ 3.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorNatural resources and mining30.3% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+3.3%WEEKLY WAGE+3.7%Natural resources and mining30.3%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Okanogan County presents a pricing-validation problem rather than a clean income case. Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value is $318,585, up 0.89% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI fell 1.54%. These are different vintages and methods: the HPI is not a home value, and the measures should not be averaged. Price-sensitive buyers and appreciation-led cases warrant caution; income underwriters also lack published market rent.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot support a gross-yield conclusion. HUD’s published two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not asking market rent; it cannot replace rent, and gross yield cannot be computed. The effective property-tax rate is 0.76%, with median annual tax of $2,281. Those are carrying-cost inputs, but assessed value, insurance, repairs, vacancy and financing costs are not published; value and tax evidence do not establish net cash flow.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing-market evidence indicates more visible seller competition, not verified buyer demand: 306 active listings were up 37%, median listing price declined 2.3%, and 16.66% of listings had price reductions. These are asking-price, supply and concession measures, not closed sales. Tax-return migration shows arrivals exceeded departures and incoming movers had higher average AGI than outgoing movers, without identifying tenure or price-point demand. Investor/nonoccupant borrowers accounted for 15 of 341 purchases. QCEW’s 2025 annual data cover workplaces in the county—not resident employment—and identify natural resources and mining as the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard; modeled annual building-value loss is 0.46%, an expected-loss ratio rather than a property-specific damage estimate. Next checks are parcel flood exposure and elevation, insurance terms, and claims history. Missing lease and market-rent evidence blocks a yield conclusion; missing closed-sale comparables blocks a settled entry-price conclusion; and missing property-level operating expenses and tax details blocks a net-cash-flow conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Okanogan County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Omak city5KOkanogan city2.5KBrewster city1.7KOroville city1.6KCoulee Dam town*1.6KTwisp town1.2KTonasket city993Pateros city583
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

19 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Omak cityIncorporated place
    5,036
  2. 02
    Okanogan cityIncorporated place
    2,470
  3. 03
    Brewster cityIncorporated place
    1,653
  4. 04
    Oroville cityIncorporated place
    1,605
  5. 05
    Coulee Dam townIncorporated place · spans 3 counties
    1,595
  6. 06
    Twisp townIncorporated place
    1,179
  7. 07
    Tonasket cityIncorporated place
    993
  8. 08
    Pateros cityIncorporated place
    583
  9. 09
    Riverside townIncorporated place
    471
  10. 10
    Malott CDPCensus-designated place
    447
  11. 11
    Winthrop townIncorporated place
    423
  12. 12
    North Omak CDPCensus-designated place
    416
Show 7 more places
  1. 13
    Nespelem Community CDPCensus-designated place
    358
  2. 14
    Elmer City townIncorporated place
    332
  3. 15
    Conconully townIncorporated place
    182
  4. 16
    Nespelem townIncorporated place
    151
  5. 17
    Loomis CDPCensus-designated place
    135
  6. 18
    Methow CDPCensus-designated place
    58
  7. 19
    Disautel CDPCensus-designated place
    34

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.456% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.76%

$2,281 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+36

978 in · 942 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$9,825

$75,172 arriving · $65,347 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors4.4%

15 of 341 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings306▲ 37.0% year over year
Median days on market52▲ 8.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced16.7%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 2.3% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Lease terms and actual market rent could produce an income profile inconsistent with the value and tax inputs.
  2. County-level flood-loss modeling may not match a parcel’s flood zone, elevation, insurance terms or claims history.
  3. MLS listing conditions may not translate into closed-sale pricing or property-specific liquidity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can HUD Fair Market Rent be used to calculate gross yield?

No. It is a payment standard rather than market asking rent, and market rent is not published.

What employment measure is available?

QCEW provides annual covered jobs located at county workplaces, not resident employment or an unemployment measure.

Are investor/nonoccupant buyers predominant among reported purchases?

No. They represent a minority of the reported purchase activity.