Lakewood, WA — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Washington·Lakewood

Pierce County · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue · population 62,709

Lakewood, WA
Image: Wikipedia · Lakewood, Washington
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
60
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Lakewood stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $524,351
1-year -0.6%
5-yr CAGR +3.2%
vs 5-yr peak -1.3%
Population -0.4%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-02$524k$230k$338k$445k$552k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
52/100
Somewhat walkable
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
89/100
Excellent for remote work
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,683/mo$1,262$1,526$1,789202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent117125100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 26.0
Rent

At a 26.0 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Lakewood for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
47 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
54 · w22%
Distance from peak
82 · w18%
Population growth
40 · w16%
Rent YoY
72 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
80 · w10%
Long thesis

Lakewood has held up across the cycle: home values at $524,351 with +3.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Lakewood's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Lakewood

Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, with an estimated population of 62,709. It anchors the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area. The median home value in Lakewood is $524,351 as of 2026-04, down 0.6% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.2% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Lakewood average $1,683 per month, up 4.0% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 60 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -1.3% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Lakewood has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

●Flat or shrinking population: -0.4% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Lakewood (Wikipedia)

Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,612 at the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city in the county, behind Tacoma, and is a suburban bedroom community. Lakewood is adjacent to the McChord AFB portion of Joint Base Lewis–McChord, a major military installation for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorPaul Bocchi
Area18.89 sq mi
Elevation207 ft
Settled1833
Density3667.0/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Pierce County right now.

NWS active alerts (WA)Washington Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Pierce County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Lakewood

12 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Idlewild$610,874-0.7%
2Oakbrook$592,759-0.5%
3Lake Louise$552,404+1.0%
4Tyee Park$538,212+0.2%
5Dower$515,825-0.7%
6Lake City$489,928-1.0%
7Park Lodge$486,723-0.5%
8Custer$481,060-0.4%
9Oakwood$460,029+0.1%
10Southgate$451,970-0.9%
11Tillicum$427,862-2.8%
12Lakeview$401,440-1.9%

Cities like Lakewood

Puyallup, WA59 · StableAuburn, WA56 · StableOlympia, WA63 · RisingBurien, WA54 · Stable

Run the numbers for Lakewood

ToolCan I afford Lakewood?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Lakewood rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Lakewood to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolLakewood cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
45° / 35°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
77° / 56°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
152
~42% of year
Annual precip
38″ rain
10″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
High
Earthquake
Very high
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Lakewood listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
75%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$90,400
Washington state median
Top industries (state-level)
Tech (Amazon/MS)Aerospace (Boeing)Agriculture

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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