In Brief:
- To meet housing demand, Washington needs to add over a million homes by 2044, a 2023 state report found. More than half of renters are burdened by housing costs.
- Topography and population distribution patterns also make it expensive to transport in oil, driving up prices at the pump.
- The state is trying different ways to address its housing challenge — including with a forthcoming new agency.
At a time when affordability has been top of mind for residents across the country, a new report shines light on just how rapidly costs have risen for those living in Washington state. In fact, the report finds that, from 2013-2023, prices rose faster in the Evergreen State than in any other.
For certain metropolitan regions — around Spokane and Tri-Cities, for example — costs of living rose particularly sharply. The cost of living for a dual-income family with one child rose about 30 percent from 2021-2025 in those areas, per the report.
“As somebody who lives in the Northwest, and particularly in the Seattle area, cost of living is very expensive,” says Morgan Shook, senior policy adviser at public policy research firm ECOnorthwest, who was not associated with the report. “The cost of goods and services have been just appreciably more expensive … gas is really expensive, as well as a range of retail and personal services. Whether you’re going out for lunch, dinner or even just groceries.”…