Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)
King County had the highest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly) of 39 counties in 2021, at $1,523. Lincoln County had the lowest, at $484. The median was $678. Source: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.
Map of counties, 2021
- Under 550
- 550 to 630
- 630 to 680
- 680 to 730
- 730 to 950
- 950 and over
All counties, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2021 | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King County | 1,523 | -6.4% |
| 1 | Snohomish County | 1,523 | -6.4% |
| 3 | Clark County | 1,245 | +4.4% |
| 3 | Skamania County | 1,245 | +4.4% |
| 5 | Thurston County | 1,021 | +7% |
| 6 | Pierce County | 1,011 | +5.2% |
| 7 | Kitsap County | 976 | +15.6% |
| 8 | Whatcom County | 907 | +7.2% |
| 9 | Island County | 847 | -5.8% |
| 10 | Skagit County | 839 | +1.7% |
| 11 | San Juan County | 802 | -0.1% |
| 12 | Chelan County | 734 | +3.4% |
| 12 | Douglas County | 734 | +3.4% |
| 14 | Walla Walla County | 728 | +7.1% |
| 15 | Yakima County | 722 | +5.4% |
| 16 | Columbia County | 685 | +5.1% |
| 17 | Clallam County | 684 | +0.9% |
| 17 | Klickitat County | 684 | -3.1% |
| 19 | Benton County | 678 | -5.8% |
| 19 | Franklin County | 678 | -5.8% |
| 21 | Cowlitz County | 676 | +5.6% |
| 22 | Spokane County | 674 | +12.9% |
| 23 | Mason County | 660 | -3.2% |
| 24 | Pend Oreille County | 646 | +17.9% |
| 25 | Kittitas County | 642 | -2.4% |
| 26 | Jefferson County | 638 | -7.9% |
| 27 | Adams County | 608 | -5% |
| 28 | Lewis County | 606 | -2.9% |
| 29 | Whitman County | 602 | -4.3% |
| 30 | Asotin County | 584 | +3.2% |
| 31 | Pacific County | 571 | -3.5% |
| 32 | Stevens County | 570 | +16.6% |
| 33 | Grays Harbor County | 541 | -2.9% |
| 34 | Okanogan County | 540 | -0.2% |
| 35 | Grant County | 534 | -3.6% |
| 36 | Ferry County | 513 | -3.9% |
| 37 | Wahkiakum County | 507 | -3.1% |
| 38 | Garfield County | 484 | +1.5% |
| 38 | Lincoln County | 484 | +2.3% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Monthly gross rent, in US dollars, that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets for an efficiency (a unit with no separate bedroom) in the HUD area that contains the county.
More on how it is measured
- Gross rent is the rent plus all utilities paid by the tenant except telephone, cable or satellite television and internet.
- HUD sets Fair Market Rents at the 40th percentile of gross rents paid by recent movers for standard-quality rental units, from American Community Survey data brought forward to the fiscal year; until 2018 a few metropolitan areas were set at the 50th percentile.
- They set payment standards for Housing Choice Vouchers and rent ceilings in other HUD programs.
A policy benchmark, not a measured rent: it is lower than the median rent by design and differs from the Census Bureau median gross rent. HUD sets one value per HUD area, a metropolitan area (sometimes split into HUD Metro FMR Areas) or a non-metropolitan county, so every county of a metropolitan area shows the same figure. Counties in the six New England states have no value, because HUD defines their areas by town and a county can span several areas. Where HUD splits off part of a county, the county value is the rest of the county: Howard County, Maryland, without Columbia until FY2015, and Crawford County, Missouri, without its part of Sullivan. The year is HUD's federal fiscal year: FY2027 runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. (2021). HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars (Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx
MLA 9
HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. 2021. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research (2021) HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{department_counties_in_washington_by_2021,
author = {{U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research}},
title = {{HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021}},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21\_4050\_FMRs\_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
TI - HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly), 2021
PY - 2021
DA - 2021/03/10
PB - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-efficiency/washington-counties?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2021/FY21_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
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Rank Counties in Washington by fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"fair_market_rent_0br","level":"province","within":"Washington","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=fair_market_rent_0br&level=province&within=Washington&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)?
King County, with $1,523 in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.
Which county has the lowest fair Market Rent, efficiency (HUD, monthly)?
Lincoln County, with $484 in 2021.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD Fair Market Rents by county: efficiency, monthly gross rent in dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-12.