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

All states·Washington·Seattle

King County · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue · population 780,995

Big-city amenities
Seattle, WA
Image: Wikipedia · Seattle
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
51
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Seattle stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $871,599
1-year -2.5%
5-yr CAGR +1.6%
vs 5-yr peak -8.0%
Population +1.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-06$872k$531k$683k$834k$985k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
86/100
Walker's paradise
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
70/100
Good transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
68/100
Strong remote-work fit
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
$2,202/mo$1,667$2,016$2,366202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent108124100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 33.0
Rent

At a 33.0 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Seattle 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
37 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
44 · w22%
Distance from peak
51 · w18%
Population growth
72 · w16%
Rent YoY
52 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
56 · w10%
Long thesis

Seattle has held up across the cycle: home values at $871,599 with +1.6% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Seattle carries a $871,599 median home with only -2.5% YoY. Premium pricing in a flat tape is the bear setup — you're paying for the trend that already ran while new buyers can't afford to extend it.

About Seattle

Seattle is a city in King County, Washington, with an estimated population of 780,995. It anchors the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area. The population grew 1.5% annually from 2020 to 2024, a moderate gain. The median home value in Seattle is $871,599 as of 2026-04, down 2.5% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.6% annual growth (-8.0% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Seattle average $2,202 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+1.0%). The composite momentum score is 51 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Net positive migration: population up 1.5% per year — demand fundamentals are intact.
○Scale = optionality: 780,995 population gives you airports, hospitals, a deep job market, and a real cultural scene.

▼ Bear case

●Expensive AND not growing: median home $871,599 with only -2.5% YoY. You’re paying premium pricing for a flat trend.
●Cooling: -2.5% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.

About Seattle (Wikipedia)

Seattle is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is the 18th-most populous city in the United States with a population of 784,777 in 2025, while the Seattle metropolitan area at over 4.15 million residents is the 15th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation. The city is the county seat of King County, the most populous county in Washington. Seattle's growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities.

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

City facts

MayorKatie Wilson
Area142.07 sq mi
Elevation148 ft
MottoThe City of Flowers; the City of Goodwill
Density9298.67/sq mi
Named forChief Seattle

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

Things to see in Seattle(Tourism)

  • Seattle Great Wheel
  • Seattle International Film Festival
  • Memorial Day
  • Seafair
  • Bon Odori
  • Seafair Cup
  • Bite of Seattle
  • Gay Pride
  • Bumbershoot
  • Seattle Hempfest
  • Independence Day
  • The Seattle Times

+18 more on Wikipedia.

Extracted from the Wikipedia article. Names linked in the source — open the city’s Wikipedia page for details.

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 King County right now.

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

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

Neighborhoods of Seattle

92 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Broadmoor$3,124,785+0.5%
2Denny – Blaine$2,410,197+1.8%
3Laurelhurst$2,056,872-1.6%
4Windermere$1,933,103+1.9%
5Madison Park$1,799,004-1.4%
6Hawthorne Hills$1,553,321-0.4%
7North Beach-Blue Ridge$1,482,449-2.8%
8Portage Bay$1,454,524-3.2%
9Montlake$1,442,933-1.3%
10View Ridge$1,322,175-4.8%
11Magnolia$1,304,962-1.6%
12Sunset Hill$1,249,925-0.5%
13Madrona$1,217,486-2.3%
14West Queen Anne$1,180,983-0.9%
15Seward Park$1,172,877-2.4%
16Matthews Beach$1,159,424-1.4%
17Bryant$1,151,121-1.5%
18Fauntleroy$1,146,624-1.3%
19Leschi$1,138,619-1.3%
20Phinney Ridge$1,132,043-0.9%
21North Queen Anne$1,129,486+0.2%
22Ravenna$1,128,594-1.6%
23Wallingford$1,109,744-2.8%
24Alki$1,105,705-1.0%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like Seattle

Tacoma, WA61 · StableKent, WA55 · StableVancouver, WA61 · StableShoreline, WA59 · Stable

Run the numbers for Seattle

ToolCan I afford Seattle?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Seattle rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Seattle to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolSeattle 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 Seattle 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.

Cities similar to Seattle

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