All homes and bedroom counts
Markets / Washington / Walla Walla
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Walla Walla, WA
Walla Walla merits investigation by buyers prioritizing rent momentum and manageable tenant costs, but investors dependent on immediate appreciation or strong employment growth should avoid it.
Median price$424k
Median rent$1,492
Gross yield4.2%
Job growth▼ 1.3%
Composite Market ScoreRank #469 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Walla Walla, WA?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,492 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.35% 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 Walla Walla
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walla Walla County, WAFIPS 53071 | $1,074 | $1,181 | $1,550 | $2,118 | $2,600 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Walla Walla merits investigation by buyers prioritizing rent momentum and manageable tenant costs, but investors dependent on immediate appreciation or strong employment growth should avoid it. Asking rent rose 3.35% while home values increased 0.78%, supporting rental economics without evidence of comparable price momentum.
The opportunity is a median asking rent of $1,492 against a $1,550 fair-market rent, while rent consumes 24.12% of median household income. However, the 4.22% gross yield leaves limited room before financing, vacancies, repairs, management, taxes, and insurance, none of which are published here.
Risk is concentrated in weak jobs and buyer negotiating conditions. Employment fell 1.25%; inventory stands at 4.9 months, and 37.5% of listings had price drops. Net migration was slightly negative, although incoming movers had higher average income than outgoing movers. Investigate only with property-level expenses, flood exposure, and achievable rent verified.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Do migration figures show household growth?
No. Tax filings show 1,491 households moved in and 1,499 moved out, a net loss of 8. The flow is nearly balanced but does not provide positive net migration support.
Are incoming movers financially stronger than outgoing movers?
Yes on the published average-income measure. Incoming movers averaged $89,836 in income versus $61,617 for outgoing movers, a published gap of $28,219. That indicates a favorable income mix among movers despite the slightly negative household count.
How active are investors in local financed purchases?
Non-occupants represented 5.54% of purchase mortgages among 560 total purchases. The record does not publish cash-investor activity, property-level competition, or investor concentration by neighborhood.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 4.2%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.35%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 5.5%
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 Walla Walla 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 supply4.9 mo.▲ from 4.5 mo. a year ago
Median days on market43 days▲ from 28 days a year ago
Listings with price drops37.5%▲ from 26.9% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.2%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 0.8%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.35%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield4.2%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 1.3%CES · 12m to 2026-06
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 steady35→35
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
35| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 10 | 30% | 3.00 |
| Rent trend | 51 | 25% | 12.75 |
| Affordability | 53 | 15% | 7.95 |
| Supply pressure | 14 | 15% | 2.10 |
| Climate risk | 60 | 15% | 9.00 |
| Published score | 35 | ||
Walla Walla, WA scoreRank #469
35Job growth10/100
Job: CES employment fell 1.25% year over year -> weaker payroll demand could limit tenant formation and make rent gains harder to sustain.
Rent trend51/100
Rent: Asking rent rose 3.35% to $1,492, versus a $1,550 two-bedroom fair-market rent -> recent rent momentum exists, but buyers should verify that the target unit can achieve the benchmark.
Affordability53/100
Afford: Rent equals 24.12% of median household income, while home value equals 5.71 times income -> renting appears manageable for the median household, but acquisition prices are relatively demanding against local incomes.
Supply pressure14/100
Supply: There were 326 permits, 4.9 months of for-sale supply, and 37.5% of listings had price drops -> new construction and seller concessions require disciplined underwriting rather than assuming scarce inventory.
Climate risk60/100
Climate: The recorded annual climate loss ratio is 0.1278%, with inland flood identified as the dominant hazard -> property-level flood location, coverage, exclusions, and premiums need confirmation before purchase.
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
$424k
YoY ▲ 0.8%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,492
YoY ▲ 3.35%
Gross Rental Yield
4.2%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,492 × 12 ÷ $423,975
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 1.3%
CES payrolls
Job signal 10/100
Median Household Income
$74k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
24.1%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
5.7x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,550
Market rent 96.2% 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$1,492Primary 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 ↗$1,181−$311 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 ↗$1,550+$58 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 ↗$1,218−$274 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 Walla Walla as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Walla Walla
BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.
BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Occupation wage lens
How asking rent sits against major local occupations
Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.
Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$50,810 median wage
35.2%
Production Occupations$45,950 median wage
39.0%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$38,640 median wage
46.3%
Sales and Related Occupations$38,320 median wage
46.7%
Healthcare Support Occupations$47,700 median wage
37.5%
Educational Instruction and Library Occupations$66,520 median wage
26.9%
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
322 units authorised in 2026, 52% 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
−8
1,491 in vs 1,499 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 0.5% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$28,219
Arriving $89,836 vs leaving $61,617
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
5.5%
31 of 560 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.128% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Umatilla County · Benton County · King County · Franklin County · Spokane County
✓ 1,491 in − 1,499 out = -8 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
- Kennewick, WA225 arriving
- Hermiston, OR158 arriving
- Seattle, WA140 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Kennewick, WA259 leaving
- Seattle, WA126 leaving
- Hermiston, OR119 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
- Employment contracted year over year, so current rent growth may not be supported by improving payroll conditions.
- The gross yield is measured before financing, vacancy, repairs, management, taxes, and insurance; those expense figures are not published and could materially reduce cash flow.
- For-sale conditions show negotiating pressure, with 43 median days on market and frequent price drops, creating a risk that resale values or exit timing disappoint.
Inside this metro 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 Walla Walla
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walla Walla, WA (Target) | 35 | $424k | $1,492 | 4.2% | ▼ 1.3% |
| Brainerd, MN | 43 | $369k | $1,237 | 4.0% | ▼ 1.5% |
| Albany, OR | 27 | $414k | $1,639 | 4.8% | ▼ 1.4% |
| Moses Lake, WA | 30 | $363k | $1,479 | 4.9% | ▼ 0.9% |
| Pocatello, ID | 32 | $356k | $1,078 | 3.6% | ▼ 1.1% |
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 |