Do Washingtonians spend more or less income on housing than other states?
The cost of housing has gone up in recent years. In Washington state, the average home price overall has been steadily increasing, according to data from Zillow. Aside from a dip lasting from mid-year in 2022 through spring 2023, the average home cost has been increasing since Zillow’s data begins in 2017.
Nationwide, housing costs fluctuate often, but have still shown a gradual increase over time, based on data from Redfin.
But how does Washington compare with the rest of the country when it comes to how much household income is going toward housing?
Personal finance website WalletHub recently released a report on where people spend the most and least on housing by state, looking at both owners and renters. Here’s how Washington fared.
Housing costs by state
WalletHub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Council for Community and Economic Research, Zillow and WalletHub’s own research branch to determine the ranking. The report looked at home energy payments plus mortgage or rent per state, compared to the median household income in that state.
This produced an average percentage of income spent on housing for each state. Washington ranks as the fifth-most expensive for those with mortgages, and 18th-most expensive for renters.
For mortgages, the state spending the highest percentage of their income on housing costs is Hawai’i at 53.47%. It’s followed by:
- California - 45.99%
- Oregon - 36.27%
- Nevada - 35.29%
- Washington - 34.82%
On the other end of the spectrum, the states spending the least amount on home costs are:
- Ohio - 20.38%
- Nebraska - 20.37%
- Kansas - 20.12%
- West Virginia - 19.94%
- Iowa -18.84%
For renters, Hawai’i was beaten out by just one state: New York. New Yorkers are spending 54.52% of their income on housing costs, while Hawai’ians spend closer to 52.88%.
The rest of the top five are:
- Massachusetts - 48.78%
- Florida - 42.64%
- Maine - 41.78%
Washington ranked around the middle of the list for renters, at number 18 with 30.02%.
The states spending the least on housing costs among renters are:
- Oklahoma - 21.63%
- Minnesota - 21.11%
- Wyoming - 19.64%
- Iowa - 19.32%
- Kansas - 19.11%
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Do Washingtonians spend more or less income on housing than other states?."