(The Center Square) – According to a recent Bankrate.com study, Washington state ranks fifth in the nation for hidden costs associated with homeownership, with homeowners in the Evergreen State facing an average of $27,444 annually. These costs include expenses like property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, utilities and maintenance.
Bankrate determined the average hidden homeownership costs by analyzing various expenses beyond the mortgage payment, including property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, utilities, internet and cable bills, and maintenance. It utilized internal data and the Consumer Price Index for inflation adjustments to calculate these costs both nationally and on a state-by-state basis.
Hawaii and California had the highest homeownership costs at over $30,000 annually, while West Virginia and Mississippi are the lowest, at less than $15,000 a year.
Linda Bell authored the study and is a senior writer on Bankrate’s Home Lending team.
She noted Washington’s home maintenance costs are the third highest in the nation.
“And home maintenance is really something that you can’t ignore. And if you have homes that are ageing, and that are 40 years old or older, a lot of home maintenance is going to go into that,” Bell told The Center Square during a Tuesday interview. “So, things like replacing the roof or the HVAC system, these things that have to be maintained and repaired are super expensive.”
She said, “Washington also has the fourth most expensive internet and cable costs, and unfortunately, as inflation increases, a lot of providers are increasing their prices, and homeowners all over the country are really kind of feeling pain in regard to that.”
Bell advised Washington homeowners to double-check their internet and cable bills, as many people have set up auto-deduct payments and don’t monitor how much their bills are going up.
“While that auto pay can certainly be more convenient – and it certainly is – sometimes when those rates go up, they’ll send you a notice in the mail, but maybe they won’t, and you don’t notice,” she explained.
The Center Square reached out to the Building Industry Association of Washington for comment on the study.
“It’s not surprising to see Washington in the top five in terms of hidden costs of homeownership,” BIAW’s Vice President of Communication Janelle Guthrie told The Center Square in an email. “While Washington doesn’t have a state income tax, local governments heavily rely on property taxes and levies to fund services – and the Legislature just gave them more authority to raise taxes without a vote of the people.”
Guthrie noted that costs for energy, water, sewer and garbage services continue to rise as well.
“New energy codes often require costly upgrades to heating, ventilation and insulation systems – especially the effort to force electrification and ban natural gas,” she continued. “State and local building codes frequently change, which means expensive updates for remodels or repairs, especially in areas with strict environmental or energy-efficiency requirements.”
Bankrate’s hidden homeownership costs study aligns with its 2025 Housing Affordability Study from March, which found that Americans need a six-figure annual household income – $116,986, to be precise – to afford a home today comfortably. The same report found that while housing prices have increased by 197%, the median household income has only increased by 40%.
“Wages aren’t rising in pace with the home prices that are increasing … the good thing is that you bought your home at whatever price and it’s appreciated, and that’s a good thing,” Bell said. “But when homeowners are trying to get into the market now, they’re facing high mortgage rates and they’re facing high home prices and they need to save up more money for the down payment, but their incomes aren’t rising in pace with all the stuff that’s happening, and it really has put homeownership out of reach for today’s Americans, and that’s really, really a sad story.”
