Seatac (98168) Leads Seattle Yields at 5.0%, Far Above the City Median

Yields across 83 suburbs in Seattle (King County) range from 5.0% in Seatac (98168) down to under 2% in the premium Eastside pockets. That spread is wider than the gap between short-term rental and long-term rental at the city level, which means WHERE you buy matters more than HOW you rent it out. This ranking shows which King County suburbs lead on gross yield and why the pattern holds even in one of the priciest metros in the country.

The city-median 3-bed house sells for around $986,000 and rents for roughly $2,266 a month, a long-term rental gross yield of 2.8%. That sits well below the US average of 5.3% and the Washington state median of 4.0%. Seattle is a capital-growth market, not a cash-flow market, but the top-ranked suburbs below approach the national yield bar and comfortably clear the Washington state median.

Seatac (98168) Tops the Ranking at 5.0%

Gross yields = annual income / sale price. Based on 3-bed house medians. The dashboard shows every property type and bedroom count.

South King County Drives the Top of the Table

The leading suburbs cluster south of the city because entry prices there fall faster than rents do. Seatac (98168) leads on long-term rental yield at 5.0%, with a 3-bed house entry around $587,500 and monthly rent near $2,449. Proximity to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport underpins the rental pool: airport staff, flight crews, and logistics workers create steady tenant demand that does not evaporate with tech-sector layoffs. Short-term rental yields are also strong because airport-adjacent listings capture layover stays year-round, smoothing the occupancy curve that hits most Seattle short-term rentals in the winter shoulder months.

Maple Valley (98038) ranks second at 4.6%. It is a very different play: a further-out bedroom community with larger lots, newer stock, and a family tenant base drawn by Tahoma School District. Prices of roughly $769,975 are high in absolute terms but still well below the city median of $986,000, and rents of $2,948 hold up because the area lacks apartment substitutes. This suburb tilts toward long-term rental; short-term rental demand is thinner because it is 30-plus minutes from the waterfront, the Space Needle, and the convention corridor that drive Seattle's visitor nights.

Burien (98148) and Auburn (98002) round out the top four, both delivering long-term rental yields of 4.4% or better at entry prices under $986,000. Burien (98148) benefits from the same airport-adjacent tenant pool as Seatac (98168), while Auburn (98002) leans on affordable entry pricing and rent that has been pulled up by the broader Puget Sound shortage. Seattle (98106) is the surprise in the ranking, a West Seattle pocket that trades at around $725,000, well below the peninsula's higher-ticket zones, while rents of $2,687 track the rest of the city.

The Price-Yield Trade-Off Is Extreme in King County

An investor entering at $587,500 in Seatac (98168) versus $986,000 at the city median faces a very different capital-risk profile. The top suburb's ticket is about 60% of the median, which dramatically reduces the absolute dollars at risk if Seattle's tech-driven price cycle turns. The trade-off is that capital growth has historically been slower in south King County than on the Eastside or in the city core, where Amazon, Microsoft, and the cruise-ship corridor push demand.

Rents are sticky in a way that prices are not. When median prices fell roughly 10% during the 2022 rate shock, median rents barely moved. That asymmetry is what produces the yield spread: cheaper suburbs keep collecting similar rent even when their prices compress, while premium suburbs see price rises that vastly outpace any rent increase. If you are optimizing for cash flow and debt coverage, you want the bottom half of the price distribution. If you are optimizing for long-run total return, the top half has historically delivered.

Premium Suburbs Trade Yield for Liquidity and Growth

For context, here is how some of Seattle's most in-demand suburbs compare. These are established areas where investors typically accept lower yields in exchange for capital growth and liquidity.

High-demand suburbs for context. Same methodology as the yield ranking above.

The premium suburbs on the Eastside, in particular Bellevue, Medina, Mercer Island, and Kirkland, yield a fraction of what south King County delivers on long-term rental because buyers are paying for school catchments, lake access, and proximity to Microsoft, Meta, and Google's Eastside campuses. The short-term rental yield in these areas lifts a little due to higher nightly rates, but rarely enough to close the gap to the top of the ranking. These are appreciation plays, not cash-flow plays. Owners here have historically been compensated by capital growth that runs several percentage points above Seattle's long-term inflation rate.

What the Yield Ranking Does Not Show

A high yield can mean depressed prices, not strong rents. If a suburb's median price has been dragged down by a concentration of older, smaller houses or teardown stock, the ratio will look generous, but the underlying capital asset may appreciate slowly or lose value when remodeled comparables lift the benchmark. The ranking also does not capture vacancy risk, tenant quality, or the thickness of the rental pool. A suburb with only a handful of rental listings at any given time can see occupancy dip sharply if even one major employer moves or consolidates.

Capital growth is the other missing dimension. Premium suburbs in King County have historically delivered better total returns once appreciation is added to net cash flow, particularly over 10-year holds. The yield ranking answers "which suburb produces the most rent per dollar of purchase price today," which is a useful cash-flow question but is not the same as "which suburb produces the highest total return." Short-term rental figures in the table assume current occupancy rates; the King County average is roughly 52%, with Seattle's 2-unit operator cap and licensing requirements applying inside city limits.

View Seattle in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

Seattle's Top Suburb Beats the State Yield, the Bottom Trails Both Benchmarks

Seatac (98168) at 5.0% sits just shy of the US median gross yield of 5.3% and comfortably above the Washington state median of 4.0%. The city median of 2.8% falls well below both benchmarks, which is the price Seattle investors pay for being in a coastal tech metro. Premium Eastside pockets under 2% are effectively negative on a cash basis once mortgage, property tax of 0.8%, and insurance are subtracted, so owners in those postcodes are underwriting an appreciation thesis, not an income thesis. The practical takeaway: if cash flow matters in your strategy, the ranked table is your shortlist; if long-term growth and asset quality matter more, the premium list is where institutional capital concentrates.

Seattle's short-term rental market is lightly regulated at the county level, with the state lodging tax of 6.5% applying on top of local add-ons. Inside Seattle city limits, operators are capped at 2 units and must license, which shapes which ZIP codes are viable for a short-term rental strategy. These are city medians, and individual suburbs diverge significantly. The dashboard shows suburb-level data for every bedroom count and property type, including the 2-bed apartment lens which often yields higher than 3-bed houses. For a deeper comparison of Seattle's long-term rental versus short-term rental returns, see Seattle's 2.8% Yield Tests Investors, but Short-Term Rental Doubles It.

Data reflects market conditions as of April 2026. For full methodology, see our data sources and market score methodology, or explore rental data in the dashboard.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.