All homes and bedroom counts
Markets / District of Columbia / Washington
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Washington, DC
Washington merits investigation by buyers prioritizing household affordability and low recorded climate loss, but investors dependent on near-term job or rent growth should avoid it.
Median price$585k
Median rent$2,448
Gross yield5.0%
Job growth▼ 2.3%
Composite Market ScoreRank #522 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer
How much is rent in Washington, DC?
Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $2,448 per month for 2026-06-30. The index was effectively unchanged from a year earlier.
Studio, 1BR and 2BR listings
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 Washington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County, VAFIPS 51059 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Montgomery County, MDFIPS 24031 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Prince George's County, MDFIPS 24033 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| District of Columbia, DCFIPS 11001 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Prince William County, VAFIPS 51153 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Loudoun County, VAFIPS 51107 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Frederick County, MDFIPS 24021 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Arlington County, VAFIPS 51013 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Charles County, MDFIPS 24017 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Stafford County, VAFIPS 51179 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Alexandria city, VAFIPS 51510 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Spotsylvania County, VAFIPS 51177 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Fauquier County, VAFIPS 51061 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Jefferson County, WVFIPS 54037 | $947 | $953 | $1,251 | $1,740 | $2,099 |
| Culpeper County, VAFIPS 51047 | $1,149 | $1,170 | $1,423 | $1,978 | $2,007 |
| Manassas city, VAFIPS 51683 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Warren County, VAFIPS 51187 | $953 | $1,002 | $1,315 | $1,754 | $2,206 |
| Fredericksburg city, VAFIPS 51630 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Fairfax city, VAFIPS 51600 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Manassas Park city, VAFIPS 51685 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Clarke County, VAFIPS 51043 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Falls Church city, VAFIPS 51610 | $1,953 | $2,015 | $2,246 | $2,835 | $3,332 |
| Rappahannock County, VAFIPS 51157 | $1,198 | $1,254 | $1,375 | $1,649 | $2,307 |
The read
Why this market scores where it does
Washington merits investigation by buyers prioritizing household affordability and low recorded climate loss, but investors dependent on near-term job or rent growth should avoid it. The median home value is $584,684, while the median asking rent is $2,448 and gross yield is 5.02%.
The opportunity is a rent-to-income ratio of 23.19%, indicating manageable median rent relative to median household income. The risk is weak demand momentum: jobs fell 2.31%, asking rent was flat, and tax filings show net migration of -12,636 households.
Supply also limits the case for pricing power. Permitting reached 26,238 homes, with 58.6% in buildings of at least five units. Buyers should underwrite current income rather than rent acceleration, test each asset against competing multifamily delivery, and review inland-flood exposure property by property.
Frequently Asked Investor Questions
Does the current rent support an attractive income case without assuming growth?
Median asking rent is $2,448 per month against a median home value of $584,684, producing a published gross yield of 5.02%. Asking rent was unchanged year over year, so the record supports evaluating the deal on current revenue rather than embedded rent growth. Operating expenses, financing costs, taxes, vacancy, and property-specific rents are not published.
Are household movement and mover income strengthening the tenant base?
Tax filings record 117,442 households moving in and 130,078 moving out, a net loss of 12,636. Average income was $86,769 for inbound movers and $103,550 for outbound movers, a published gap of -$16,781. The figures therefore show both household outflow and lower average income among arrivals than departures; tenant-level effects are not published.
How much evidence is there of competition from investors and new housing?
Non-occupants represented 6.28% of purchase mortgages, with 65,240 total purchases recorded. Separately, permits totaled 26,238, equal to 4.15 per thousand residents, and 58.6% of permitted units were in buildings with at least five units. The record does not publish neighborhood locations, completion timing, vacancy, concessions, or the share of permits directly competing with a specific property.
Investor Quick Takeaways
Gross Yield: 5.0%
Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.
Rent Momentum: ▲ 0.00%
Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.
Investor Activity: 6.3%
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 Washington 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 supplyn/aRedfin unavailable
Median days on marketn/aRedfin unavailable
Listings with price dropsn/aRedfin unavailable
Sale-to-list ration/aRedfin unavailable
Home value growth▼ 0.3%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 0.00%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield5.0%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▼ 2.3%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 steady29→29
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.
The one chart
Rents versus prices, indexed to 2019
Both series start at 100. The gap between the lines is the investment case, and which line is closing it tells you what kind of market this is.
Reindexed Price vs. Rent Growth
2019 = 100 · annual · 2019–2026
Since 2019, prices are up 35% and rents 26%. Prices running ahead of rents is what compresses yield. ✓ recomputed from series
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
29| Signal | Score | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job growth | 2 | 30% | 0.60 |
| Rent trend | 7 | 25% | 1.75 |
| Affordability | 60 | 15% | 9.00 |
| Supply pressure | 20 | 15% | 3.00 |
| Climate risk | 98 | 15% | 14.70 |
| Published score | 29 | ||
Washington, DC scoreRank #522
29Job growth2/100
Job: CES employment declined 2.31% year over year -> buyers should not assume labor-market growth will strengthen occupancy or rents.
Rent trend7/100
Rent: Median asking rent was $2,448 and unchanged year over year -> current revenue is observable, but recent rent momentum offers no support for aggressive growth assumptions.
Affordability60/100
Afford: Median rent consumed 23.19% of median household income, while home value was 4.62 times income -> rental payments appear manageable at the household level, although acquisition pricing still requires disciplined underwriting.
Supply pressure20/100
Supply: Permits totaled 26,238, or 4.15 per thousand residents, and 58.6% were in buildings with at least five units -> prospective multifamily competition deserves close submarket and pipeline review.
Climate risk98/100
Climate: The annual climate loss ratio was 0.0759%, with inland flooding the dominant hazard -> aggregate recorded loss is limited, but water exposure still requires asset-level insurance, elevation, and drainage diligence.
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
$585k
YoY ▼ 0.3%
ZORI Median Rent
$2,448
YoY ▲ 0.00%
Gross Rental Yield
5.0%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$2,448 × 12 ÷ $584,684
Job Growth (YoY)
▼ 2.3%
CES payrolls
Job signal 2/100
Median Household Income
$127k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
23.2%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.6x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$2,246
Market rent 109.0% 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 benchmark5 of 5 reported values
Zero-based scale$2,448Primary 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 ↗$2,285−$163 vs ZORI
2026-05
Studio, 1BR and 2BR listings
The median advertised rent in Realtor.com's 50-largest-metro rental report; source NAs remain unavailable.
View source release ↗$2,015−$433 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 ↗$2,246−$202 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 ↗$2,027−$421 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 Washington as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.
Direct local rental evidence
Recent leases and rental-market liquidity in Washington, DC
These Apartment List observations match the exact metro CBSA code 47900. They are kept separate from Zillow asking rent, Census occupied-home rent and property-level comparables.
Direct recent-lease rent history
Monthly overall-rent index; missing observations are not filled from another geography.
Recent-lease rent$2,1722026-07 · -1.6% year over year
Rental vacancy6.8%2026-07 · +0.5 percentage points year over year
Time on market33 days2026-07 · +5.7 days year over year
Measured rent retention
How much of gross yield survives the first two measured deductions?
This bridge subtracts direct rental vacancy and effective property tax only. It is not net yield, NOI, cap rate or property cash flow.
measured retention property tax vacancy
- Gross yield
- 5.0%
- Vacancy
- 6.8%
- Effective tax
- 0.9%
- Retained yield
- 3.8%
Regional price level
What feels expensive inside Washington
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
Business and Financial Operations Occupations$105,260 median wage
27.9%
Management Occupations$165,010 median wage
17.8%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$53,250 median wage
55.2%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$37,860 median wage
77.6%
Computer and Mathematical Occupations$133,760 median wage
22.0%
Sales and Related Occupations$41,270 median wage
71.2%
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
26,022 units authorised in 2026, 59% 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
−12,636
117,442 in vs 130,078 out (IRS SOI)
▼ 10.8% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$16,781
Arriving $86,769 vs leaving $103,550
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
6.3%
4,094 of 65,240 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.076% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →Households arrive mainly from: Anne Arundel County · Howard County · Baltimore County · Baltimore city · Los Angeles County
✓ 117,442 in − 130,078 out = -12,636 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
- Baltimore, MD12,103 arriving
- New York, NY8,033 arriving
- Philadelphia, PA2,932 arriving
Leading outbound markets
- Baltimore, MD14,713 leaving
- New York, NY7,558 leaving
- Richmond, VA3,558 leaving
Directional moving briefs
Relocation routes involving Washington
Each route begins with a direct IRS tax-return household flow and then tests what changes in housing, income, jobs, regional prices and climate evidence.
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 contraction could weaken tenant demand or make retention less dependable; the supplied CES measure shows a 2.31% year-over-year decline.
- Demand signals lack momentum: asking rent was unchanged, and 130,078 households moved out versus 117,442 moving in, producing net migration of -12,636.
- New competition could restrain occupancy or rent increases because 26,238 homes were permitted and most permitted units were in buildings with at least five units.
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
County · VAFairfax County$779k home · 3.9% yieldCounty · MDMontgomery County$627k home · 4.5% yieldCounty · MDPrince George's County$434k home · 5.4% yieldCounty · DCDistrict of Columbia$579k home · 5.2% yieldCounty · VAPrince William County$592k home · 4.6% yieldCounty · VALoudoun County$810k home · 4.3% yieldCounty · MDFrederick County$509k home · 5.2% yieldCounty · VAArlington County$824k home · 4.0% yield
Cities in this market
Statistical peers
Market areas that behave like Washington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington, DC (Target) | 29 | $585k | $2,448 | 5.0% | ▼ 2.3% |
| Boston, MA | 35 | $747k | $3,210 | 5.2% | ▼ 0.8% |
| Portland, OR | 27 | $553k | $1,805 | 3.9% | ▼ 1.8% |
| Seattle, WA | 31 | $745k | $2,269 | 3.6% | ▼ 0.1% |
| Baltimore, MD | 47 | $408k | $1,936 | 5.7% | ▼ 1.2% |
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 |