Washington by the numbers
In Washington, the median worker earns $61,590 a year, the typical home is worth $519,800 and carries $4,361 of property tax, and the average household pays $130 a month for electricity at 14.95¢ per kilowatt-hour.
West Western Interconnection / BPA Regulated monopoly
Energy
Washington generates more hydroelectricity than any other state. The federal Columbia River system, including Grand Coulee, Chief Joseph and the lower Snake and Columbia projects, is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration at cost rather than at market price, and public utility districts and municipal utilities with BPA contracts pass that advantage to their customers.
Rates have been rising because of what is being added rather than what is already there. Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act requires a carbon-free supply on a fixed schedule, the state has a cap-and-invest programme whose allowance costs reach electricity, and utilities are investing heavily in transmission, wildfire mitigation and storage.
Drought is a recurring risk. In low-water years hydro output falls and utilities buy replacement power at market prices, which flows through to rates with a lag.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Washington households used 936 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $130. At the state median wage that is about 4.4 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas is still cheaper to run than a heat pump here, by about $0.97 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Washington worker earned $61,590 in 2024, 24.4% above the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Avionics Technicians | 11.41× | $107,640 |
| Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers | 6.3× | $93,550 |
| Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products | 6.13× | $34,860 |
| Tapers | 5.28× | $70,580 |
| Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists | 4.64× | $82,050 |
Property tax
The median Washington homeowner pays $4,361 a year on a home worth $519,800, an effective rate of 0.84% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 36 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Washington run at 107.0 where the national average is 100, ranking it #6 of 51. Goods sit at 104.4, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 126.0, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $61,590 therefore buys what $57,561 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (111.1) , Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard (105.6) , Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro (105.4) , Wenatchee-East Wenatchee (103.9) , Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater (103.7) .
Housing
House prices in Washington fell 1% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +105.1%. They remain 1% below the peak set in 2025.
Metro areas tracked here: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro (-0.8%) .
Who supplies the power
34 utilities report residential service in Washington, together serving 3.2 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Washington: common questions
What does it cost to live in Washington?
Prices overall run at 107.0 against a national average of 100, with rents at 126.0. The typical home is worth $519,800 and carries $4,361 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 0.84% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $130 a month at 14.95¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $61,590.
What is the property tax rate in Washington?
The effective rate is 0.84% of home value, from a median bill of $4,361. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 36 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Washington?
The median wage of $61,590 buys what $57,561 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Washington falls on.
Is Washington expensive for electricity?
It ranks #37 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 14.95¢ per kilowatt-hour, -18.9% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 40 of 51, because households there use 936 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Washington?
$61,590 across all occupations, about $29.61 an hour, covering 3,539,650 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Washington?
34 utilities report residential service, the largest being Puget Sound Energy Inc with 1.1 million customers. Regulated monopoly.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources