All homes and bedroom counts
Markets / Washington / Centralia
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Centralia, WA
Centralia merits investigation by buyers who prioritize rent momentum and job growth, but investors needing strong current yield or low physical-risk exposure should avoid it.
Median price$438k
Median rent$1,411
Gross yield3.9%
Job growth▲ 1.2%
Composite Market ScoreRank #123 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Centralia, WA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,411 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 5.73% from a year earlier.
Occupied rental units paying rent
Two-bedroom standard
These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.
Exact county schedules
HUD rent benchmarks inside Centralia
Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.
| County | Studio | 1 BR | 2 BR | 3 BR | 4 BR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis County, WAFIPS 53041 | $882 | $975 | $1,279 | $1,688 | $1,832 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Centralia merits investigation by buyers who prioritize rent momentum and job growth, but investors needing strong current yield or low physical-risk exposure should avoid it. Asking rent rose 5.73% year over year and LAUS jobs rose 1.21%, while the gross yield is 3.86%.
The opportunity is demand-side strength without similarly fast price appreciation: home values rose 1.86%, and tax filings show net migration of 351 households. Yet the $438,412 median value equals 5.86 times median income, so entry pricing is not especially light relative to local earnings.
The main risks sit in supply and property-level underwriting. Inventory is 4.1 months, 30.06% of listings had price drops, and climate loss is 0.3451% of building value per year, with inland flood the dominant hazard. Buyers should investigate insurance, flood exposure, and achievable rent before treating recent rent growth as durable.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What income does the typical asking rent imply at the stated value?
The record reports a $1,411 monthly median asking rent, a $438,412 median home value, and a 3.86% gross yield.
Are tax-filing households moving into or out of Centralia?
Tax filings show 2,437 households moved in and 2,086 moved out, producing net migration of 351 households.
How much new and resale supply is visible?
The record shows 288 permits, or 3.38 per 1,000, alongside 4.1 months of inventory, a median market time of 38 days, and price drops on 30.06% of listings.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 3.9%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 5.73%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 4.4%
Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).
Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI
Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.
Put the evidence to work
Test the market, then test the deal
Keep Centralia as the starting point or move into a more specific property and rent check.
Run cash flowStarts with this market's measured price and rentSave to shortlistCompare this metro with up to four other placesCheck rent by ZIPMove from metro context to a local rent benchmarkFind a comparison marketRead a curated two-market decision analysisShare this analysisEmail the canonical link without adding page scriptsReport a data issueSend the figure, source and release period to review
Market pulse
The current market in eight signals
Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.
Months of supply4.1 mo.▲ from 4.0 mo. a year ago
Median days on market38 days▲ from 28 days a year ago
Listings with price drops30.1%▼ from 32.6% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio99.7%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 1.9%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 5.73%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield3.9%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 1.2%LAUS · 12m to 2026-05
Release-to-release evidence
What actually changed
This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.
Published score held steady62→62
0 ptsThe published component scores did not move in this release.
Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.
The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.
Composite breakdown
What each component measures
Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
62| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 86 | 30% | 25.80 |
| Rent trend | 81 | 25% | 20.25 |
| Affordability | 64 | 15% | 9.60 |
| Supply pressure | 32 | 15% | 4.80 |
| Climate risk | 8 | 15% | 1.20 |
| Published score | 62 | ||
Centralia, WA scoreRank #123
62Job growth86/100
LAUS jobs rose 1.21% year over year -> employment is a supportive rental-demand signal, but industry concentration is not published.
Rent trend81/100
Asking-rent growth of 5.73% exceeded home-value growth of 1.86% by 3.87 percentage points, a calculation from the figures -> rent-price alignment improved, although gross yield is 3.86%.
Affordability64/100
Rent equals 22.64% of median household income, while price is 5.86 times income -> tenant affordability looks more favorable than buyer affordability.
Supply pressure32/100
Permits totaled 288 and inventory was 4.1 months, while 30.06% of listings had price drops -> buyers have negotiating signals, but the record does not show whether new units compete with rentals.
Climate risk8/100
Reported annual climate loss is 0.3451% of building value, with inland flood the dominant hazard -> property-level flood and insurance review is essential.
The numbers
What this market costs and what it earns
Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.
ZHVI Median Price
$438k
YoY ▲ 1.9%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,411
YoY ▲ 5.73%
Gross Rental Yield
3.9%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,411 × 12 ÷ $438,412
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 1.2%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 86/100
Median Household Income
$75k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
22.6%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
5.9x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,279
Market rent 110.3% of FMR
Historical affordability context
Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.
Independent rent evidence
One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks
These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.
Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale$1,411Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30
All homes and bedroom counts
A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.
View source release ↗$975−$436 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
One-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,279−$132 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR
Two-bedroom standard
An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.
View source release ↗$1,097−$314 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year
Occupied rental units paying rent
A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.
View source release ↗Take the next step
Keep Centralia as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Supply pipeline
What is being built, and for whom
Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.
National supply context
Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.
Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
266 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Who is arriving, and who is buying
Demand, and the competition for it
Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.
Net Household Move
+351
2,437 in vs 2,086 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 14.4% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$12,466
Arriving $66,366 vs leaving $53,900
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
4.4%
40 of 900 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.345% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Thurston County · Pierce County · Cowlitz County · Clark County · King County
✓ 2,437 in − 2,086 out = 351 netDirect market links
Where tax-return households moved from and to
These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.
Leading inbound markets
- Olympia, WA558 arriving
- Seattle, WA494 arriving
- Portland, OR198 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Olympia, WA483 leaving
- Seattle, WA322 leaving
- Longview, WA134 leaving
The other side
What would make this a bad buy
Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.
Three ways the case breaks
- A 3.86% gross yield provides a limited starting income return before operating costs.
- Resale conditions may be softer than rent growth suggests, with 30.06% of listings showing price drops and a median market time of 38 days.
- Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the reported annual climate loss ratio is 0.3451% of building value.
Inside this micro area
Move from the market-area average to local evidence
Use the available county and city pages to add local price, rent, housing, migration and hazard context to the market-area view.
County records
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Centralia
Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.
| Market area | Score | Price | Rent | Yield | Job Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia, WA (Target) | 62 | $438k | $1,411 | 3.9% | ▲ 1.2% |
| Carson City, NV | 56 | $496k | $1,811 | 4.4% | ▲ 1.0% |
| Ellensburg, WA | 42 | $499k | $1,777 | 4.3% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Astoria, OR | 49 | $523k | $1,560 | 3.6% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Logan, UT | 58 | $474k | $1,460 | 3.7% | ▲ 0.7% |
Provenance
Where every figure came from
“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.
| Dataset Source | Method | Release Period | Pulled Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rent | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — historical household income | direct | ACS 2019 and 2024 5-year | 2026-08-05 |
| Census ACS 5-year — population | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-26 |
| Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent index | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy | direct | Apartment List 2026-07 | 2026-08-08 |
| BEA County Personal Income — income and population | direct | 2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levels | direct | 2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-2024 | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS CES — payroll employment | direct | CES SM current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS LAUS — resident employment | direct | LAUS current | 2026-07-26 |
| BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wages | direct | May 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15) | 2026-08-03 |
| BLS QCEW — county employment and wages | direct | annual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 2024 | 2026-08-02 |
| OMB/BLS delineation — metro geography | direct | OMB July 2023 delineation | 2026-07-30 |
| Census Building Permits Survey — permitted units | direct | BPS through 2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housing | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-29 |
| Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-07-30 |
| Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income | direct | ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA | 2026-08-08 |
| FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratios | modelled | NRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS) | 2026-07-26 |
| FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciation | direct | annual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 2025 | 2026-08-02 |
| HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy type | direct | HMDA 2024 purchase originations | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income band | direct | HUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23) | 2026-08-03 |
| HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standard | direct | FY2026 FMR | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback | direct | ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026 | 2026-07-26 |
| HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalk | direct | HUD-USPS 2026Q1 | 2026-08-09 |
| IRS SOI — county migration and mover income | direct | SOI migration 2022-2023 | 2026-07-26 |
| Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage rates | direct | week of 2026-07-30 | 2026-08-06 |
| Census ACS 5-year — effective property tax | direct | ACS 2024 5-year | 2026-08-06 |
| Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory | direct | county inventory 2026-06 | 2026-07-28 |
| Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rents | direct | top-50 rental asking rents 2026-05 | 2026-08-05 |
| Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts | direct | metro tracker through 2026-05-01 | 2026-07-26 |
| Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply | direct | ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-12 |
| USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | direct | USDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes | 2026-08-02 |
| Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents | direct | county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06 | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — metro home values | direct | Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZHVI — city home values | direct | zillow_zhvi_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI — metro market rents | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv | 2026-07-26 |
| Zillow ZORI — city market rents | direct | zillow_zori_city.csv | 2026-07-29 |
| Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusted | direct | Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv | 2026-08-15 |
| Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents | direct | ZORI ZIP 2026-06 | 2026-08-08 |