Thurston County’s housing crisis, by the numbers
On average, Thurston County’s population grows by about 4,000 people every year, according to data from the Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC). Most of the growth is concentrated in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater area.
Accompanying that growth has been a rapid rise in the cost of rental housing. The average rent in Thurston County has doubled in the past 20 years, from $590 in 2001 to $1,205 in 2020, TRPC data shows. Just in the past five years, average rents have gone up by 28%.
Wages have not kept pace with rent increases. Median household income in Thurston County, which was $76,000 in 2019 ($59,000 in Olympia), has grown much more slowly, taking a hit after the 2008 financial crisis and rebounding some in recent years.
Rising rents and stagnant incomes help explain why half of Thurston County renters are considered “cost-burdened,” meaning they pay more than 30% of their income to rent, according to Census data cited in the 2018 Thurston County Regional Consolidated Plan. Of these, 23% are severely cost burdened.
Meanwhile, the supply of housing has not kept pace with population growth. The city issued building permits for, on average, about 380 units per year from 2015-2019. Even at building’s peak, the city was gaining residents at twice the pace it was building new housing.
Affordability is also affected by supply and demand: Olympia’s apartment vacancy rate is now 4%, and was as low as 2.7% in 2017. Markets with less than 5% vacancy are generally considered by economists to be tight.
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
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