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The Week AheadUnder the failed leadership of Olympia Democrats, Washington is facing an unprecedented catalog of crises wreaking havoc across our state. Skyrocketing housing costs, a lack of affordable childcare, struggling small businesses, a serious crime problem, an illicit drug epidemic claiming thousands of lives every year, persistent homelessness, a failing education system, crumbling roads and bridges — and the list keeps growing. These crises are hitting families and communities in every corner of our state.
While Democrats double down on failure with ineffective policies and higher taxes, House Republicans are proposing real solutions to Fix Washington.
Join us in the fight. Follow and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube, and help us hold the majority accountable by sharing the facts on this page.
The Affordability Crisis
Washington’s prices have risen faster than any other state over the past decade, with relative price levels increasing more than twice as much as California’s, the nation’s most expensive state.
—Washington Roundtable (March 2026)
Washington is the fifth most expensive state in the nation for residents.
—Bureau of Economic Analysis (March 2026)
Washington drivers are paying the third-highest gasoline prices in the nation and the second-highest diesel prices — both more than $1 above the national average.
Washington imposes $1.29 per gallon in state gas taxes, carbon taxes and fees, topping California’s $1.16 per gallon for the highest rate in the nation.
—Washington State House Republicans (March 2026)
Washington drivers pay the third-highest gas tax in the nation at 56.5 cents per gallon, after Democrats approved a 6-cent increase in 2025 and automatic 2% annual increases thereafter.
—U.S. Energy Information Administration (February 2026)
The Climate Commitment Act passed by Democrats is adding more than 50 cents per gallon to the price of gas, taking roughly $1.5 billion a year from Washington drivers to reduce global carbon emissions by just 0.0008 percent.
—Washington State House Republicans citing The Seattle Times (January 2026); Washington Policy Center (July 2026)
Seattle tax collections increased 172% from 2013 to 2025, more than five times the rate of population growth and seven times the rate of job growth. Businesses now account for 68% of city tax collections, about $1.65 billion, up from roughly 55% a decade ago
—ECONorthwest (September 2026)
Washington has the sixth-highest income requirement in the nation for a single adult to live comfortably and the eighth-highest for a family of four. A single adult needs an estimated $110,614 in annual pre-tax income, while a household with two working adults and two children needs $281,798.
Washington is the sixth most expensive state in the nation for the annual cost of raising a young child, at nearly $32,000 a year.
37% of Washington households, more than 1.16 million, cannot afford basic living costs. That includes 313,142 households in poverty and another 856,500 earning above the federal poverty level but still unable to cover basic expenses.
A Washington family with two adults, an infant and a preschooler needs $109,560 a year just to cover a bare-minimum survival budget, which still leaves no room for emergencies, debt payments or savings.
At $27,444 a year, Washington’s hidden housing costs, including property taxes, insurance, utilities, internet and repairs, are the fifth-highest among U.S. states.
Housing in Washington is so expensive, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 83 hours a week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental.
—National Low Income Housing Coalition (2026)
Washington has only 28 affordable rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, leaving a statewide shortage of 182,692 homes. Among these renters, 77% spend more than half their income on housing.
—National Low Income Housing Coalition (2026)
Washington is now the seventh-most expensive state for older adults who rent, up from 11th in 2022 and 14th in 2015. Older renters need 8% to 11% more than the national average just to cover basic necessities.
—UMass Boston Elder Index report (April 2026); The Seattle Times (April 2026)
Washington State Department of Agriculture data show food pantry visits in the state surged from 10.99 million in 2023 to 13.38 million in 2024 and 14.87 million in 2025, a 35% increase in just two years and an 89% increase since 2021. One in six children in the state faces hunger.
—Washington State Department of Agriculture (February 2026); Feeding America (April 2026)
Washington has the sixth-highest grocery costs in the U.S., with an average monthly spend of $1,184, about 7.7% higher than the national average.
Washington has the highest chain-restaurant menu prices among the 48 contiguous states studied, nearly 14% above the national average.
—Washington Hospitality Association (November 2025)
Washington is one of the worst states in America for retirees, largely because of affordability. Retirement Living ranked Washington the third-least affordable state to retire in 2026, with the state placing 48th for housing costs and 47th for living costs. WalletHub’s broader retirement ranking also placed Washington near the bottom, 43rd overall and 46th for affordability.
—WalletHub (January 2026); Retirement Living (May 2026)
Washington ranks third worst in the nation for military retirees, driven by poor scores in affordability, job opportunities and veteran support.
A person retiring in Washington at age 60 without Social Security would need $2.54 million in savings, the fourth-highest requirement in the country. Even retiring at 70 requires $1.27 million, also fourth highest.
Washington has lost its longtime advantage in affordable industrial electricity, falling from the most affordable state in the nation to seventh over the past decade.
—Puget Sound Regional Council (May 2026)
Washington has the third-highest average combined state and local sales tax rate in the nation at 9.51%. Some residents pay as much as 10.6%.
Washington imposes the highest distilled spirits excise tax in the nation at $36.68 per gallon, nearly $13 more than Oregon’s second-highest rate of $23.74 per gallon.
At 21.85%, Washington’s combined wireless tax rate is the third highest in the nation, more than 64% above the national average.
Tax Foundation (September 2026)
Learn More: 10 Years of Tax Increases
The Childcare Crisis
Washington doesn’t have enough licensed childcare slots for even half its children ages 5 and younger. Even if every licensed slot were reserved for young children, the state would still be more than 92,000 slots short of meeting estimated demand.
—Department of Children, Youth and Families 2026 Market Rate Study (June 2026)
More than 70% of eligible Washington preschoolers have no access to state or federally funded preschool, and Washington is the 10th least affordable state for preschool in the nation — according to the governor’s own budget office.
—Office of Financial Management, Proposed 2026 Supplemental Budget (December 2025)
Childcare costs in Washington jumped 41% in just three years for both infants and 4-year-olds, from 2022 to 2025.
—Child Care Aware of America, via NPR (August 2026)
Washington ranks among the four most expensive states for every major center-based childcare setting: third for infants, fourth for toddlers and third for 4-year-olds. For family childcare, Washington ranks second-most expensive for infants and most expensive in the nation for toddlers and 4-year-olds.
—Child Care Aware of America (May 2026)
Center-based infant care costs $23,136 a year in Washington, the third-highest price in the nation and 89% more than public college tuition and fees.
—Child Care Aware of America (May 2026)
Center-based care for two children costs $40,896 a year, the second-highest price in the nation. That is 94% more than median annual rent and 39% more than the median annual mortgage cost.
—Child Care Aware of America (May 2026); The Olympian (May 2026)
For single parents in Washington, center-based infant care consumes 50% of median income; for families at the poverty level, 87%.
—Child Care Aware of America (May 2026)
Nearly two-thirds of Washington children under 6 live in licensed childcare deserts. That means 64% live in areas with at least three young children for every licensed slot.
—Center for American Progress (April 2026)
Washington ranks 33rd in the nation for childcare freedom, reflecting a heavier regulatory burden on providers than most states. Its score is far closer to last-place Vermont than first-place Idaho on an index measuring child-to-staff ratios, group-size limits, training hours and education requirements.
—Archbridge Institute State Childcare Regulations Index (February 2026)
The state auditor flagged $37 million in questionable federal childcare subsidy payments in fiscal 2025 — $27.2 million in child-care funds and $9.9 million in TANF — finding the Department of Children, Youth and Families does not review supporting documentation before paying providers. The department’s own post-payment audits found overpayments in 67% of cases reviewed.
—Washington State Auditor’s Office (April 2026)
High costs, limited availability and difficulty finding quality childcare are driving Washington parents out of the workforce: 39% reported quitting or being fired because of childcare problems, including 53% of single parents. ECOnorthwest estimated those disruptions amounted to about 82,000 working-parent job separations in 2023.
—ECOnorthwest; Child Care Aware of Washington (July 2024)
Childcare disruptions cost Washington families and employers $6.9 billion in 2023, including $2.9 billion in lost family income. They also reduced the state’s economic output by $6 billion and erased nearly $1.45 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue.
—ECOnorthwest; Child Care Aware of Washington (July 2024)
The Public Safety Crisis
Washington ranks 10th-worst in the nation for personal and residential safety in WalletHub’s 2026 “Safest States in America” study.
Washington has ranked last in the nation for police staffing per capita for 15 consecutive years, with just 1.37 commissioned officers per 1,000 residents in 2025. Leading the nation would require 30,589 additional officers.
—Axios (August 2025); Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (February 2026)
Seattle ended police hiring bonuses of up to $50,000 on Sept. 1, 2026, even as the department fields 927 sworn officers against a goal of 1,250 and projects 113 separations this year — its worst attrition since 2023.
—KING 5 (August 2026); Seattle Red (September 2026)
More than 49,000 violent crimes have gone unsolved in Washington since 2022 — including 6,955 rapes, only 25% of which were solved, and 13,412 robberies at a 31% solve rate.
—Council of State Governments Justice Center analysis of FBI data (October 2025)
Washington had the 5th highest property crime rate in the nation in 2025 — 29% above the national average — including the 4th highest burglary rate (62% above average) and the 5th highest larceny-theft rate.
—SafeHome.org / FBI Crime in the U.S. 2025 (September 2026)
Washington law enforcement reported a property-crime clearance rate of just 15.6% in 2025, including only 6.0% for motor vehicle theft and 6.3% for fraud. More than $800 million in property was reported stolen, but just 11.3% of its value was recovered.
—Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (August 2026)
A national analysis ranked Washington second for vehicle thefts from 2021 through 2025, with nearly 186,000 vehicles stolen. More than 68,000 were stolen from residential areas, nearly 37% of the statewide total.
—KVI, citing SaveMaxAuto analysis of FBI Crime Data Explorer and U.S. Census Bureau data (May 2026)
Forbes Advisor ranked Washington the state most affected by retail theft, with 48% more theft than expected for its share of the U.S. population — costing roughly $3 billion a year, or $347 per resident, about double the national average. In April 2026, Gov. Bob Ferguson vetoed $500,000 to restart the state’s organized retail crime pilot.
—Forbes Advisor (June 2024); FOX 13 (April 2026)
Seattle’s total crime rate climbed to 174.8% above the national average in 2025 — up from 172.9% the year before — ranking ninth among America’s 50 largest cities and fifth for property crime at 188% above the national average.
—Security.org analysis of FBI Crime Data Explorer data (August 2026)
Only 29% of 911 calls from Nordstrom’s downtown Seattle flagship drew a police response, compared with 100% at its Bellevue and Southcenter stores — prompting 38 business and civic leaders to demand a 100-day public-safety action plan and a return to the 7-minute priority-911 standard.
Washington had the fifth-highest rate of internet-crime complaints among states in 2025, with 25,619 complaints, or 320.2 per 100,000 residents. Reported losses totaled more than $458 million.
—FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center 2025 Annual Report (April 2026)
Over the past five years, Washington has recorded 1,129 major data breaches affecting residents more than 36 million times, more than four times the state’s population. For two straight years, breach notices have exceeded the state’s entire population, and in 2025 alone, more than 80% of reported breaches compromised Social Security numbers.
—Washington State Attorney General’s Office Data Breach Reports (2021-25)
Nearly half of newly hired front-line staff at Washington’s juvenile rehabilitation facilities quit within their first year — 55% of new security officers at Green Hill — as violence inside the overcrowded facilities climbed, according to a legislative audit.
—Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, via Seattle Red (September 2026)
Learn more: Crime in Washington
The Drug Crisis
Washington posted the nation’s 5th highest opioid overdose death rate in 2025 — 28.1 per 100,000, more than double the 13.1 national rate and the 6th highest rate for all drug overdoses.
Between 2022 and 2024, Washington was one of only four states where overall drug overdose death rates rose significantly, while 41 states saw significant declines. It was also one of just three states with rising death rates for fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine alike.
—SHADAC analysis of CDC WONDER data (July 2026)
From 2021 through 2025, King County recorded 5,126 confirmed fatal overdoses — more than 700 each year. Most involved fentanyl.
——King County 2025 Overdose Fatality Review (2026)
Nearly half of King County’s 2025 fatal overdose victims lacked stable private housing — 22% were homeless outright, with another 5% temporarily housed and 21% in public housing programs.
—King County 2025 Overdose Fatality Review (2026)
Washington’s youth substance-use residential treatment bed capacity falls 67% short of the national benchmark — the worst gap of any service type studied — with five of ten regions sitting 100% below the benchmark.
—DSHS Research and Data Analysis Division report to the Legislature (November 2024)
In 2025, 35 children connected to Washington’s child welfare system died and 49 more nearly died from abuse, neglect or maltreatment — higher than the record levels the state itself reported — with accidental drug ingestion fueling the surge and most victims under age 1.
—Office of the Family and Children’s Ombuds (August 2026)
Washington’s newborn drug exposure rates are nearly double the national average, with 11.2 out of every 1,000 hospital births affected compared to 6.2 nationwide.
Learn more: Bipartisan Drug Possession Reforms
The Economic Crisis
Washington’s unemployment rate was 4.9% in August — nearly a full point above the 4.1% national rate — and has run above the national average every month since 2022, driven by tech-sector job losses. The state’s labor force shrank by nearly 10,000 people over the past year.
—Washington Employment Security Department (August 2026)
Washington’s net migration fell to its weakest level since 2013 (outside the pandemic year), with domestic in-migration running about 18% below pre-pandemic levels — international arrivals are the only thing keeping the total positive, according to the state’s own budget office.
—Office of Financial Management 2025 Population Trends (October 2026)
Washington is headed for its third straight year of budget shortfalls. The September revenue forecast deepened the expected deficit for fiscal 2028, and the state budget director said the new numbers “make the budget picture slightly worse.”
—Washington Office of Financial Management (September 2026)
Washington’s Employment Security Department projects annual job growth of just 0.85% from 2024 to 2029 and 0.84% from 2029 to 2034, describing job growth as likely to “remain slow” in the coming years.
—Washington Employment Security Department (August 2026)
Washington leads the nation in mass-layoff notices in 2026, with state filings covering more than 29,000 workers — more than California — as employers from Microsoft and Amazon to farms, casinos and hospitals have announced cuts.
—LaborCurrent, from Washington ESD WARN filings (October 2026)
During the 2026 legislative session, Democrats erased one of Washington’s last major competitive advantages by enacting the state’s first personal income tax, imposing a 9.9% rate on household income above $1 million beginning in 2028.
—The Wall Street Journal (March 2026)
Washington paid a record $537 million to settle claims of government misconduct in the fiscal year ending June 30 — five times the 2021 total — with about $388 million tied to the Department of Children, Youth and Families alone.
—Washington State Standard (July 2026)
Washington is one of the most hostile states in America for employers, ranking 47th for cost of doing business and 40th for business friendliness in CNBC’s 2026 rankings.
Washington has suffered the second-largest decline in state tax competitiveness in the country since 2020, falling from 33rd to 45th in Tax Foundation’s 2026 index.
—Tax Foundation (November 2025)
Washington employers are more than twice as likely to plan an expansion outside the state as within it, 33% to 14%, while nearly one in six say they are planning to relocate their business, roughly 45% more than a year ago. Taxes are the No. 1 challenge facing employers, followed by government regulations.
—Association of Washington Business (July 2026)
Washington is the only state in the country where new business applications declined over the latest 12-month period, falling 9.9% while every other state posted an increase.
—LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data (May 2026)
Washington has the highest five-year business failure rate in the nation at 57.8%, compared with 48.6% nationally. Its 10-year failure rate is eighth highest at 68.3%, compared with 65.3% nationwide.
—LendingTree analysis of BLS data (April 2026)
Seattle-area startup deal activity has fallen to its weakest level since 2020.
Puget Sound job growth has fallen far behind the nation, averaging just 0.7% annually from 2021 through 2025, compared with 2.2% nationally. Excluding the dot-com crash, Great Recession and pandemic, the region suffered net job losses for the first time since 2000.
—Puget Sound Regional Council, Boston Consulting Group (March 2026)
Seattle has the worst office-vacancy crisis of any major U.S. downtown, with nearly 37% of office space sitting empty, far above the 23% national average. Since 2020, downtown office properties have lost $15 billion, or 46%, of their value, reducing annual property-tax generation by $128 million.
—The Seattle Times (July 2026)
Washington ranks 37th overall on the 2026 Red Tape Index, including 48th for cost, 45th for labor conditions, 41st for business friendliness and 40th for land use.
Washington is the 8th most regulated state in the nation by number of regulatory restrictions, with 201,634 restrictions in the Washington Administrative Code.
—Mercatus Center at George Mason University (August 2024)
Washington ranks 40th in ALEC’s national labor freedom report, dragged down by the highest state minimum wage, rigid union mandates, and limited licensing flexibility — all making it harder for workers to get in, get ahead, and stay competitive.
—The Center Square (June 2025)
Washington has the weakest total reserves in the nation, enough to keep state government operating for just 27.7 days. Its rainy-day fund covers only 12.8 days, the second-lowest level in America.
—Pew Research Center (March 2026)
Truth in Accounting ranks Washington 31st for fiscal health and calculates a $5.3 billion financial shortfall, equal to $1,800 per taxpayer. Wyoming, Montana and Idaho all ranked in the national top 10.
—Truth in Accounting Financial State of the States report (September 2025)
Washington farmers paid the second-highest farm labor costs in the nation last year — $3.7 billion, 29% of all production expenses — behind only California, and have ranked second in nine of the past ten years. Labor costs peaked at $4.6 billion in 2023.
—Capital Press, citing USDA Economic Research Service (September 2026)
Washington ranked dead last in the nation for returns to farm operators in 2024, with $13.8 billion in receipts overwhelmed by $14.1 billion in expenses and nearly $295 million in losses. Washington farm groups say Democrats’ Climate Commitment Act is worsening the crisis by driving up gasoline and diesel costs through added fuel surcharges.
—U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (February 2026); The Center Square (February 2026)
Learn More: 10 Years of Tax Increases
The Education Crisis
Washington’s per-pupil spending has hit a historic high of $20,300 — growing at three times the rate of inflation since 2013 — while teacher salaries have jumped more than 80% in a decade and now rank third-highest in the nation at nearly $100,000. Meanwhile, student performance in math and reading has declined.
—Seattle Red (June 2026); National Education Association (2026)
Washington’s K–12 education system has slipped to 31st in the nation, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Book, down from 27th in 2025. A little over a decade ago, the state ranked 20th in the nation.
—Washington State Standard (June 2026); Annie E. Casey Foundation (June 2026)
Public school enrollment is down more than 4% statewide since 2019 — with another 3% decline projected by 2031.
While public school enrollment has declined since its 2018-19 peak and never recovered, private school enrollment is up 10% and homeschooling is up 38% — with homeschool families now educating as many students as the state’s second- or third-largest school district.
—WA House Republicans (2026); Washington Policy Center (February 2025)
Chronic absenteeism in Washington barely moved from 27.3% to 27.1% in the first year of the state’s own five-year improvement plan — missing OSPI’s 25% goal with 2029’s 14% target now well off pace. Washington has one of the highest chronic absenteeism rate in the country.
—Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (2026)
71% of Washington eighth graders aren’t proficient in math and 69% aren’t proficient in reading — both up from 58% in 2013.
—The Seattle Times (January 2025); National Center for Education Statistics (January 2025)
59% of Washington students failed to meet the state math standard and 49% failed English in 2025 — still below pre-pandemic levels. OSPI now counts Level 2 scores as “foundational grade-level knowledge” and removed its 90% achievement targets from the state report card.
—OSPI (September 2025); Seattle Red (November 2025)
A 30-point gulf separates affluent and low-income students in both math and English skills.
—The Seattle Times (January 2025)
Washington ranks 35th for high school graduation rate and 36th for college readiness — and the four-year graduation rate has declined three straight years, from 83.6% to 82.6%.
—U.S. News & World Report (July 2025); OSPI (2026)
Washington ranks 48th in college enrollment after high school.
—NCES: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (January 2024)
Washington is ranked 31st for Pre-K education.
—U.S. News & World Report (July 2025)
Learn more: K-12 Education in Washington
The Energy Crisis
Washington residential electricity prices are up 9.4% from a year ago, nearly twice the 4.9% national increase. In July 2026, Washington residents paid an average of 14.71 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 13.45 cents a year earlier.
—U.S. Energy Information Administration (July 2026)
Puget Sound Energy is seeking residential electric rate hikes of 29% over three years — an extra $28 a month for the average household starting in 2027. PSE concedes the state’s clean-energy mandates are “by far the biggest cause.”
—WA Utilities and Transportation Commission (September 2026); Seattle Red (October 2026)
Puget Sound Energy’s own draft plan shows a power gap of up to 13,900 megawatts by 2050 — nearly triple its current winter-peak supply — filled largely by 5,000 megawatts of hydrogen-burning “flex-fuel” plants that don’t exist anywhere in Washington today. Total portfolio costs run $59.5 billion to $116.8 billion.
—Seattle Red, from PSE’s draft integrated resource plan (September 2026)
Northwest electricity demand could roughly double over the next 20 years. Regional planners warn that meeting that unprecedented surge will require massive additions of new power generation and transmission to avoid electricity shortages and threats to grid reliability.
—Northwest Power and Conservation Council (June 2026)
Washington ranks dead last in renewable energy growth — one of only three states with negative growth — and of 469 large renewable projects seeking access to Bonneville Power Administration’s Northwest transmission system since 2015, just one was approved, the lowest success rate of any U.S. region.
The state Supreme Court struck down Initiative 2066 — approved by nearly 2 million voters to protect natural gas access — clearing the way for the Democrats’ 2024 law phasing out natural gas through Puget Sound Energy and all-electric building codes.
Federal studies found breaching the four lower Snake River dams would erase nearly 1,000 average megawatts of carbon-free power, risk blackouts “nearly one in every seven years,” and raise rates up to 25% — with replacement costs of $10 billion to $31 billion.
—Federal Columbia River System EIS; Congressional Research Service (2026)
The federal government has issued four emergency orders keeping Washington’s last coal-fired power plant — the 730-megawatt Centralia Unit 2 — available to run, most recently through December 11, after its state-mandated 2025 closure. Federal officials cited elevated grid-reliability risks in the Northwest.
—U.S. Department of Energy (September 2026)
Washington has exactly one commercial nuclear plant — the 1.2-gigawatt Columbia Generating Station — and the planned small-modular-reactor expansion beside it, backed by Amazon, won’t begin construction until the end of the decade, with operations targeted for the 2030s — years after the state’s 2030 clean-electricity deadline.
—Engineering News-Record (October 2025)
Learn more: How Democrats’ Policies Increased Washington’s Gas Prices
The Environmental Crisis
The Climate Commitment Act passed by Democrats, which is costing drivers more than 50 cents per gallon at the pump, is reducing global carbon emissions by just 0.0008 percent.
—Washington State House Republicans citing The Seattle Times (January 2026)
State officials had to slash claimed Climate Commitment Act emission reductions from 8.6 million tons to just 308,000 tons — less than 4% of the original figure — after the Washington Policy Center caught a “data entry error” that had “significantly inflated” the program’s reported benefits. That’s roughly 0.0008% of a single year of global carbon emissions.
—KNKX (January 2026); Washington State House Republicans (January 2026)
Washington agencies invested more than $1.5 billion in Climate Commitment Act revenue during the 2023-25 biennium, but Ecology says just 26% went to projects expected to directly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
—Washington Department of Ecology (June 2026)
More than 900,000 acres burned in Washington in 2026 — one of the worst fire seasons on record — with firefighting costs topping $207 million for just 20 fires in a single month.
—KNKX (August 2026); Wenatchee Business Journal (September 2026)
The 2025-27 state budget cut the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s forest-health funding by 80% — eliminating prescribed-burn crews and shrinking treated acreage below 1,600.
—WA Department of Fish and Wildlife (August 2025)
The Department of Natural Resources says Washington has a “forest health crisis,” with at least 2.7 million acres of unhealthy forest. DNR says weakened forests are more susceptible to catastrophic wildfires, insects and disease.
—Washington Department of Natural Resources (2026)
Washington ranks 8th in the nation for wildfire-related insurance vulnerability, with the state’s wildfire risk to homes ranking in the 94th percentile nationally. More than 1 million Washington buildings, nearly one-third of all structures in the state, are directly exposed to wildfire.
Seattle-Tacoma ranks 8th worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution and received an F grade in the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of the Air report.
—American Lung Association (April 2026)
Nearly 38 million pounds, or roughly 7 billion pieces, of litter accumulate on Washington roads and public areas each year. Ecology says cleanup programs collect only a fraction of what is dumped annually.
—Washington Department of Ecology (March 2026)
Eight of Washington’s 14 federally listed salmon and steelhead species are either “in crisis” or “not keeping pace” with recovery goals. Five species, including Puget Sound Chinook and steelhead, are classified as in crisis.
—Washington Recreation and Conservation Office (May 2025)
Just 54,000 steelhead passed Bonneville Dam by late September 2026 — the smallest Columbia-Snake River return ever recorded — triggering emergency fishery closures across Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
Learn more: Republican Solutions for Washington’s Environment
The Healthcare Crisis
Washington ranks near the bottom nationally for both healthcare cost and access, finishing 44th for cost and 43rd for access in WalletHub’s 2026 healthcare rankings.
Washington approved an average 22.2% rate increase for individual health plans in 2027 — even higher than 2026’s 21% jump — affecting nearly 250,000 residents who buy their own coverage.
—Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (September 2026)
Every Washington county contains communities or populations federally designated as having a shortage of primary-care health professionals.
—Health Resources and Services Administration (July 2026)
Washington is projected to face a 17% shortage of registered nurses by 2038, the fifth-largest projected percentage deficit among states, according to the latest federal workforce projections.
—Health Resources and Services Administration (2026)
Washington patients wait an average of 2 hours and 29 minutes in emergency rooms — making it the 16th-riskiest state for delayed diagnoses — and 3% walk out before ever seeing a provider.
Washington ranks 47th in the nation for adult depression and 36th for youth depression, with long-term depression trends worsening faster here than nationally. Fatal overdoses and suicide have also worsened faster in Washington than across the country.
—State of the Nation (June 2026)
Washington has the fourth-highest prevalence of adult mental illness among states, with an estimated 27.99% of adults, or nearly 1.7 million Washingtonians, experiencing a mental illness. The national rate is 22.95%.
—Mental Health America (October 2025)
Washington’s youth mental health ranking plummeted from 35th in 2021 to 48th in 2024, and 80,000 Washington teens with major depression receive no professional care.
—Children’s Alliance (October 2024)
Washington’s child well-being is moving in the wrong direction, and health coverage is part of the slide. About 68,000 Washington children lacked health insurance in 2024, with the uninsured rate rising from about 3% before the pandemic to about 4%.
—Annie E. Casey Foundation (June 2026); Axios (June 2026)
100% of Washington counties have residents stuck in ambulance deserts, with over 200,000 residents living more than 25 minutes from the nearest ambulance station.
—The Center Square/Maine Rural Health Research Center (March 2025)
Six Washington counties are maternity care deserts — with no hospital, birth center or obstetric clinician — and three more have only moderate access, leaving nearly 1 in 4 counties without full maternity care access.
Washington ranks 10th-highest nationally for assisted-living costs at $91,200 a year, and 5th-highest for a private nursing-home room at $191,625.
—CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (March 2026)
85% of people 75 and older living alone in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area can’t afford the median cost of assisted living.
—The Seattle Times (September 2024)
Washington ranks 50th in the number of hospital beds per capita.
—Washington Policy Center (February 2025)
Washington workers pay a 0.58% payroll tax for the WA Cares long-term-care program — but the maximum lifetime benefit is $36,500, covering less than five months of assisted living at the state’s median annual cost of $91,200.
—WA Cares Fund; CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (March 2026)
Researchers estimate Washington would have 42% more hospitals — and 44% more rural hospitals — without the state’s certificate-of-need law, which forces providers to get government permission before adding beds or building facilities. The law has also choked psychiatric capacity: Washington has just 13.3 public psychiatric beds per 100,000 people, far below the 50-bed standard.
—Mercatus Center; Washington Policy Center (February 2024)
The Washington State Hospital Association says 70% of hospitals and health systems are operating at a loss, with nearly $5 billion in accumulated losses over four years. Hospitals continue to face rising labor, supply and equipment costs along with reimbursement shortfalls.
—Washington State Hospital Association (2026)
72% of Washington hospital inspections were overdue as of December 2024, including one facility not inspected since 2018, while rising reports of preventable medical errors and patient harm go uninvestigated due to understaffing, inspection delays, and a lack of funding from the state.
—Washington State Standard (June 2025)
Forty of Washington’s 193 nursing homes have been cited for serious deficiencies posing immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety during recent inspection cycles. Federal data also show $10.6 million in penalties and 31 payment suspensions against Washington facilities.
Learn more: The Democrats’ Unpopular and Unfair Long-Term Care Payroll Tax
The Homelessness Crisis
Despite the Legislature investing about $1.8 billion in housing and homelessness programs for the 2025-27 biennium, statewide homelessness has continued to be a major crisis.
—WA Department of Commerce (2025)
Washington has the 3rd-largest homeless population in the nation — 31,721 people in the January 2025 federal count, up from 31,554 in 2024, even as national homelessness fell 3%.
—Department of Housing and Urban Development (2026); HUD 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment (May 2026)
King County homelessness hit a record 18,365 in 2026 — up 9% since 2024 and 37% since 2022. Unsheltered homelessness surged 21%.
—King County Regional Homelessness Authority (June 2026)
Homelessness in Washington is up 47% since 2019. More than half of Washington’s homeless population — 17,033 people, or 54% — sleep outside in places not meant for human habitation.
—National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2025 HUD Point-in-Time Count (June 2026)
More than 13,300 homeless Washingtonians are chronically homeless — 42.2% of the state’s homeless population.
——National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2025 HUD Point-in-Time Count (June 2026)
Nearly 6,900 people in homeless families with children were counted in Washington on a single night in 2025 — more than 1 in 5 of the state’s homeless population.
——National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2025 HUD Point-in-Time Count (June 2026)
Washington ranks 6th nationally for the number of students experiencing homelessness — 45,817 in the 2023-24 school year — and is tied for the 5th-highest rate in the nation at 4.2% of enrolled students.
—National Center for Homeless Education, U.S. Department of Education (February 2026)
Washington ranks 4th nationally for homeless veterans, with 1,757 counted on a single night in January 2025 — even as veteran homelessness nationwide fell to a record low.
—HUD 2025 Point-in-Time Count via National Alliance to End Homelessness (June 2026); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (June 2026)
As of the latest count, Washington has the 7th largest number of homeless individuals under the age of 18, and the 4th largest number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness.
—Department of Housing and Urban Development (December 2024)
In 2024, Seattle had twice as many people unsheltered on the streets as New York City, six times as many as Chicago, and 10 times as many as Philadelphia.
The Housing Crisis
Washington’s median home value was $591,879 in August 2026 — the fourth-highest in the nation, about 60% above the national median. Buying a typical home here consumes 42.5% of the median household’s income, far above the 30% affordability threshold.
—Zillow (August 2026); Redfin (September 2026)
Washington earned a C- in Realtor.com’s 2026 State Report Card Score, ranking 38th in the nation for housing affordability and homebuilding activity. The state’s median household income is 22% higher than the national average, but its median home listing price is 45% higher, meaning Washington’s housing costs are erasing the benefit of higher wages and locking more families out of homeownership.
Homeownership is slipping further out of reach in the Seattle metro area, where new homeowners now pay more than twice as much as new renters. In Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, median monthly housing costs are $4,457 for new homeowners and $2,111 for new renters, leaving buyers with a $2,346 monthly premium, the seventh-highest among the nation’s 100 largest metros.
—National Low Income Housing Coalition (March 2026)
Washington has 253,846 extremely low-income renter households but only 71,154 affordable and available rental homes for them, a shortage of 182,692 homes. That equals just 28 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households. More than three-quarters of those renters spend over half their income on housing.”
—National Low Income Housing Coalition (March 2026)
In Washington state, every $1,000 increase in the price of a median-priced new home prices an additional 2,070 households out of the market.
Washington ranks as the 2nd worst state in the country to buy a starter home, trailing only California in affordability, availability, and accessibility for first-time buyers.
—Construction Coverage (June 2025)
Washington is one of the hardest places to become a homeowner in the United States, with the typical household needing nearly 20 years to save for a down payment on a home. That’s the 5th longest timeline of all states.
In the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro, buying a median-priced home takes 56.3% of the typical household’s income — making it the 7th least affordable housing market in the country.
By 2030, Washington is on track to become the 5th most expensive state for housing, with median home prices topping $900,000. To buy in, a household will need to earn nearly $187,000 — a 79% jump from today’s income levels.
Spokane has the 4th worst housing crisis outlook in the nation — and Seattle ranks 21st — based on vacancy rates, housing approvals, and worsening home value-to-income ratios, according to a new LendingTree analysis of 100 U.S. metros.
In Seattle, the median single-family home now costs $1 million—up 87% since 2020 — and buys 400 fewer square feet than it did five years ago.
—The Seattle Times (April 2025)
Years of harmful housing policies and regulations at the local and state levels have led to an affordable housing crisis in Seattle. Rising costs, unpaid rent, and delayed government action have pushed Seattle’s affordable housing sector to the brink — 13 buildings with 1,100+ low-income units are now being sold, despite tens of millions in public aid and repeated warnings to city and state leaders.
—The Seattle Times (June 2025)
It now takes nearly $91,000 a year to afford the typical rent in the Seattle area — $10,000 more than the national average and 23% higher than five years ago. That’s the 11th highest rent burden among major U.S. metros.
Seattle’s average monthly rent is $2,110, nearly 30% higher than the national average of $1,627.
Data shows regulations imposed by all levels of government account for 23.8% of new home costs in Washington, adding approximately $164,386 to the median home price.
BIAW estimates permitting delays in Washington average 6.5 months, adding more than $31,000 to the cost of a home. According to NAHB, every $1,000 increase in costs prices out 2,200 families, meaning these delays make homeownership unattainable for 69,025 Washingtonians.
Impact fees imposed by local governments on new residential construction add an average of $18,433 to the price of single-family homes statewide.
Over the past decade, Washington’s median home price has soared 125%, from $267,600 in 2014 to $600,939 in 2024 — one of the largest increases in the nation.
—OFM (March 2025); Motley Fool (March 2025); Construction Coverage (January 2025)
Washington ranks dead last for the per capita supply of affordable housing.
—The Seattle Times (January 2025)
More than 200,000 Washingtonians are currently homeless or facing housing instability.
—The Spokesman-Review (October 2024)
The Department of Commerce says the state is facing a critical housing shortage that could last decades, estimating a need for around 1 million new homes by 2044 to keep up with anticipated population growth.
Washington is the nation’s 5th most unaffordable state for housing.
The Housing Affordability Index for first-time homebuyers statewide is at its lowest point since at least 2020.
—Columbia Basin Herald (September 2024)
More than one-third of households statewide are considered “cost-burdened,” paying more than 30% of their monthly income for housing.
Washington has the 5th highest hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom home with an hourly wage of over $40.
—The News Tribune (August 2024)
At 828%, Washington had the largest home price gain in the nation from 1984 to 2024, far exceeding the national average of nearly 500%.
Less than 1% of Seattle-area home listings are affordable for middle-income households.
The income required to afford a median-priced home in Seattle ($227,000) is at an all-time high and is 80% higher than the city’s median household income ($126,000).
Seattle ranks among the nation’s most expensive metro areas, with a median home value of $739,858.
To afford the $5,700 monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home in the Seattle area, a household making the median income of $126,000 would still have to spend more than half of their income on housing costs.
—The Seattle Times (January 2025)
Washington ranks last of any state in the country in housing units per household.
—Lieutenant Governor’s Office (February 2022)
Washington has the 6th highest rents in the nation.
—The Columbian (November 2024)
Learn more: Washington’s Housing Crisis
The Transportation Crisis
In a study of 31 different factors, Washington ranks as the 2nd worst state in the country to drive in.
Factoring in gas, insurance, and maintenance costs, Washington ranks as the 3rd most expensive state for car ownership.
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area ranks as the 5th most expensive metro in the country for commuting, with the annual cost of time and fuel estimated at $10,018 per worker, about 48% higher than the national average of $6,770. Inflation-adjusted commute costs in the region have increased nearly 25% over the past decade.
—Consumer Affairs (September 2026)
Seattle is the 8th-worst city in America to drive in, ranking 93rd of the 100 largest U.S. cities in WalletHub’s 2026 study — 82nd for cost of ownership and 88th for traffic and infrastructure.
Seattle drivers lost an average of 68 hours to traffic congestion in 2025, up 8% from 63 hours in 2024. Congestion cost the average driver about $1,253, and Seattle ranked as the 10th most congested U.S. urban area.
Washington failed to rank in the top 20 in any of the 13 categories measured in Reason Foundation’s 29th Annual Highway Report. The state highway system ranks 48th in the nation overall for cost-effectiveness and condition.
—Reason Foundation (March 2026)
Washington now has 212 state-owned bridges rated in poor condition, while 342 are at least 80 years old. State transportation officials peg the cost to replace those aging bridges at approximately $9.2 billion.
—WSDOT (February 2026); The Center Square (February 2026)
After years of deferred preservation due to limited funding, WSDOT permanently closed the 103-year-old Fairfax Bridge in 2025 after deterioration made it unsafe. The closure cut off public access from SR 165 to Mount Rainier National Park’s Mowich Lake entrance, Carbon River Ranger Station and other nearby recreation areas.
—Washington State Department of Transportation (April 2025)
About 40% of Washington’s state highway lane miles, roughly 7,900 miles, were due or overdue for paving in 2024. Just 670 lane miles were paved that year.
—Washington State Standard (October 2025)
Sound Transit faces a staggering $34.5 billion funding gap to deliver the voter-approved ST3 expansion. Its updated plan now leaves construction of several promised projects unfunded and defers others until additional money can be found.
Washington State Ferries has just 21 vessels but says it needs 26 to provide reliable service. WSF says decades of decisions left the state without enough boats to keep pace with its aging fleet, contributing to service instability today, while the first new ferry is not expected to enter service until 2030.
—Washington State Ferries (August 2026); WSF Service Contingency Plan (April 2026)