All homes and bedroom counts
Markets / Washington / Ellensburg
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Ellensburg, WA
Investigate Ellensburg selectively if current rent growth and buyer negotiation room matter more than gross yield; avoid it if affordability or hazard exposure is a hard constraint.
Median price$499k
Median rent$1,777
Gross yield4.3%
Job growth▲ 0.8%
Composite Market ScoreRank #393 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Ellensburg, WA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,777 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.76% 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 Ellensburg
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kittitas County, WAFIPS 53037 | $1,002 | $1,108 | $1,454 | $2,022 | $2,439 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Investigate Ellensburg selectively if current rent growth and buyer negotiation room matter more than gross yield; avoid it if affordability or hazard exposure is a hard constraint. The median home value is $498,843, median asking rent is $1,777, and gross yield is 4.28%. Rent rose 3.76% year over year while LAUS employment rose 0.78%.
The opportunity is a rent trend that exceeds the reported job trend, alongside current buyer leverage. The risk is a demanding entry valuation: price-to-income is 6.76 times and rent consumes 28.9% of median household income. Inventory is at 5.7 months, 22.53% of listings show price drops, and recorded permits total 358, a supply pipeline that needs submarket-level review.
Wildfire is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate loss ratio is 0.4986% of building value. That risk sits beside the reported gross return and elevated purchase burden, so insurance terms, property-level mitigation, and achievable rent should be verified before underwriting.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
What current demand signals are positive?
LAUS employment rose 0.78% year over year, and median asking rent rose 3.76%.
Is there evidence of buyer negotiation room?
The market has 5.7 months of supply, median time on market is 21 days, and 22.53% of listings show price drops.
What do the tax-filing migration data show?
Tax filings show 1,746 households moved in and 1,571 moved out, for net migration of 175. Average AGI was $99,611 inbound versus $70,256 outbound, a $29,355 gap.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 4.3%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.76%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 7.5%
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 Ellensburg 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 supply5.7 mo.▲ from 4.9 mo. a year ago
Median days on market21 days▼ from 31 days a year ago
Listings with price drops22.5%▼ from 26.3% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio98.9%2026-05-01
Home value growth▼ 0.3%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.76%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield4.3%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.8%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 steady42→42
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
42| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 75 | 30% | 22.50 |
| Rent trend | 58 | 25% | 14.50 |
| Affordability | 25 | 15% | 3.75 |
| Supply pressure | 5 | 15% | 0.75 |
| Climate risk | 2 | 15% | 0.30 |
| Published score | 42 | ||
Ellensburg, WA scoreRank #393
42Job growth75/100
LAUS employment rose 0.78% year over year -> the job backdrop is positive but modest.
Rent trend58/100
Median asking rent rose 3.76% while gross yield is 4.28% -> rent momentum is positive, but income relative to property value remains limited.
Affordability25/100
Price-to-income is 6.76 and rent-to-income is 28.9% -> both acquisition affordability and tenant payment burden require scrutiny.
Supply pressure5/100
Supply is 5.7 months, 22.53% of listings have price drops, and permits total 358 -> buyers have negotiation indicators, but absorption needs submarket-level review.
Climate risk2/100
Wildfire is the dominant hazard and modeled annual climate loss is 0.4986% of building value -> property-level exposure and insurance terms are central underwriting checks.
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
$499k
YoY ▼ 0.3%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,777
YoY ▲ 3.76%
Gross Rental Yield
4.3%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,777 × 12 ÷ $498,843
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.8%
LAUS payrolls
Job signal 75/100
Median Household Income
$74k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
28.9%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
6.8x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,454
Market rent 122.2% 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$1,777Primary 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 ↗$1,108−$669 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 ↗$1,454−$323 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 ↗$1,341−$436 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 Ellensburg 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
354 units authorised in 2026, 31% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ 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
+175
1,746 in vs 1,571 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 10.0% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$29,355
Arriving $99,611 vs leaving $70,256
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
7.5%
60 of 798 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
wildfire
0.499% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: other
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: King County · Yakima County · Snohomish County · Pierce County · Grant County
✓ 1,746 in − 1,571 out = 175 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
- Seattle, WA700 arriving
- Yakima, WA136 arriving
- Wenatchee, WA56 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Seattle, WA470 leaving
- Yakima, WA114 leaving
- Kennewick, WA55 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
- The entry valuation is demanding, with a 6.76 price-to-income ratio and rent equal to 28.9% of median household income.
- Current resale and supply signals are soft: inventory is 5.7 months, 22.53% of listings show price drops, and permits total 358.
- Wildfire is the dominant hazard, with modeled annual climate loss equal to 0.4986% 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 Ellensburg
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellensburg, WA (Target) | 42 | $499k | $1,777 | 4.3% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Carson City, NV | 56 | $496k | $1,811 | 4.4% | ▲ 1.0% |
| Astoria, OR | 49 | $523k | $1,560 | 3.6% | ▲ 0.8% |
| Montrose, CO | 55 | $500k | $2,093 | 5.0% | ▲ 0.7% |
| Port Angeles, WA | 35 | $501k | $1,906 | 4.6% | ▲ 0.3% |
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 |