U.S. Census: Portland and Seattle Rank Middle-of-the-Pack in Rental Vacancy Rates Among U.S. Metros

Both Seattle and Portland now stand in the middle of the pack among U.S. metros for rental vacancy rates.

Of the top 75 metro areas, Portland ranked #18 with a vacancy rate of 4.6% for Q4 2020, up 1.4% from a year earlier. 

Seattle ranked #16 among the top U.S. metro areas, with a 4.4% vacancy rate, down 1.2% from Q4 2019.

U.S. Rental Vacancies Tighten

The average national rental vacancy rate for Q4 2020 was 6.5 percent for multifamily dwellings of five or more units -- up from 6.4% a year earlier, despite considerable delivery of multifamily units throughout the national market.

Year-over-year vacancy rates in the Western U.S. increased from 4.4% in Q4 2019 to 4.7% in 2020.

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U.S. Homeownership Rates

After falling to a 26-year low in 2016, the homeownership rate now stands at 65.8%. Homeownership in the West has remained flat in the past year at 60.4%.

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