Counties / Washington / San Juan County

San Juan County, WA

FIPS 53055 · population 18,478 · outside every metro area

$888k
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
$888k
▼ 0.5% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$1,512
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
$1,762
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+51.6%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−0.5%FHFA HPI2025+3.0%
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$799k
Surveyed gross rent$1,512
Rent burden 30%+44.6%
Median year built1988
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
35.6%vacant
13,990estimated housing units
Occupied tenure22.0% renter
owner 78.0%renter 22.0%
Structure mix89.2% single-family
Single-family 89.2%20+ units 0.6%Mobile home 4.3%Other 5.9%
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 jobs6,178▲ 1.3% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,051annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,075▲ 5.1% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorLeisure and hospitality23.0% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.3%WEEKLY WAGE+5.1%Leisure and hospitality23.0%
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

San Juan County’s underwriting tension is a $887,832 county median home value against unmeasured market rent and material carrying-cost uncertainty, while the available price measures point in different directions. The record therefore calls for caution in cash-flow underwriting and property-level rent, tax and flood investigation before a return case can be formed. Zillow’s county observation for 2026-06 shows a 0.50% year-over-year decline, whereas FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI increased 3%. These are different methods and vintages: FHFA is not a home value, and the observations cannot be averaged into a growth rate.

02Housing economics

No county market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $1,762 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and cannot fill that gap. The supplied effective property-tax rate is 0.53%; it informs carrying-cost diligence but does not establish the bill for a specific acquisition. Missing lease comparables and an asset-specific tax assessment prevent a defensible income-after-tax comparison to the county value.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing market showed 206 active listings, a 60-day median marketing time, and price reductions on 14.01% of listings. These are asking-market supply, marketing-time and seller-concession measures, not closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Tax-return migration was net positive by 10 households, while inbound movers’ average income exceeded outbound movers’ by $20,519; that is a narrow migration signal rather than an occupancy measure. Investor mortgages represented 11.19% of purchases, showing some non-owner participation but not the cash-buyer share or investor holdings.

04Risk & next checks

QCEW reports 6,178 annual average covered jobs at county workplaces; it is neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Leisure and hospitality is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled annual building-value loss equals 0.14%. Property-level flood zone, elevation, insurance quote, condition and closed-sale comparables are not published. Their absence prevents pricing hazard costs, testing parcel value and determining whether listing conditions translate into executable acquisition terms.

Cities & communities

Where people live within San Juan 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
Friday Harbor town2.7KRoche Harbor CDP778
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

2 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Friday Harbor townIncorporated place
    2,728
  2. 02
    Roche Harbor CDPCensus-designated place
    778

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

0.144% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.53%

$4,253 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+10

580 in · 570 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$20,519

$122,903 arriving · $102,384 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.2%

15 of 134 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 listings206▼ 0.5% year over year
Median days on market60▼ 4.4% year over year
Listings price-reduced14.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 6.9% 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. Property-level lease terms or achievable rent could differ materially from the county record, changing the cash-flow assessment.
  2. Elevation, flood-zone status and insurance terms could make modeled county flood exposure unrepresentative of a specific parcel.
  3. MLS listing indicators may diverge from closed-sale pricing and actual buyer liquidity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. County market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be substituted for market rent.

How should FHFA HPI be read alongside Zillow?

As a separate repeat-transaction price index with a different method and vintage, not as a home value or a rate to combine with Zillow’s change.

What employment measure is available?

QCEW annual covered employment at workplaces in the county; it is not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast.