Rents in this Eastside city are falling, but its still WA's most expensive market
Renting in Kent got a lot more expensive last year, though Bellevue remains the priciest market despite a double-digit price drop.
Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kent skyrocketed 15.1% to $1,600 per month in 2025, by far the largest increase in the state, according to Zumper’s Seattle Metro Area Report. Rents in Oak Harbor shot up by 9.3% (to $1,410 per month), 6.2% in Bellingham and 5.5% in Burien.
At slightly more than $2,300 per month, Bellevue is the most expensive apartment market in the state, followed by fellow Eastside cities Redmond and Kirkland. Rents in Bellevue, however, plummeted 10.8% last year, due mainly to an influx of new construction and tech layoffs.
Several new apartment complexes have opened in Bellevue in the past 18 months or so, including Nuovo (developed by SRM in partnership with Microsoft), and the 288-unit Bellevue Station in the BelRed neighborhood.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2026/02/02/median-rental-rates-washington.html