The Redmond rental market enters 2026 as the strongest in the Seattle metro. The citywide median rent stands at $2,324 per Apartment List's August 2026 Redmond Rent Report, up 2.3 percent year over year while the metro as a whole is down 1.2 percent, the fastest rent growth of any city in the region. Demand rests on the Microsoft headquarters campus and on a light rail line that now runs from Downtown Redmond across Lake Washington to Seattle. For owners, 2026 is a year of real pricing power, exercised within Washington State's rent cap and Redmond's own notice rules.
Redmond, Washington is home to 77,353 people per U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates (2024), and about 57 percent of its occupied homes are rented. That is a renter-majority city with one of the best-paid tenant pools in Washington State. Here is what the verified numbers say for owners.
Two independent sources, both pulled August 2026, tell the same story from different angles:
Redmond rents are rising in a metro that is flat to falling, and asking rents on new listings are rising fastest.
For context, Apartment List's August 2026 metro table puts the Seattle metro median at $2,015, so Redmond sits 15.3 percent above it. The University of Washington's Washington Center for Real Estate Research put King County's average apartment rent at $2,095 in its Q4 2025 report, the highest of any county in the state, and Kidder Mathews' first-quarter 2026 data (published May 2026) shows East King County as the region's priciest submarket at a $2,571 average rent.
No source publishes a Redmond-only vacancy rate, so use the regional reads, labeled for what they are:
Those figures skew toward large apartment communities. A well-presented house or townhome in Redmond faces less direct competition than the regional vacancy numbers suggest.
New apartment supply is concentrated where the city has planned it: Downtown Redmond, Overlake Village, and Marymoor Village, the station areas where Redmond's multifamily tax exemption program under RMC 3.38 also places rent-limited MFTE units. Own near a station and those buildings are your comparable set.
Redmond's tenant pool is anchored by employers that pay well and hire on relocation timelines:
Redmond's median household income is $162,560 per the 2024 American Community Survey estimates. Well-qualified applicants are the norm here when a listing is priced and presented correctly.
Redmond's transit story changed twice in fifteen months, and both changes are now operating fact:
If your rental sits within a comfortable walk of a 2 Line station, say so in the first line of your listing. Future service changes remain plans that can move, so market the service that runs today.
Demand splits by housing stock and commute, so match your marketing to what your property is:
The unit type in demand is the one that fits the commute: apartments and condos near the stations, houses and townhomes in the established neighborhoods.
Redmond has one of the more permissive accessory dwelling unit codes in Washington State. Under RZC 21.04.1110, a residential lot may carry up to two ADUs or tiny homes of up to 1,000 square feet each, there is no owner-occupancy requirement, and long-term rental of an ADU is allowed.
For owners, that cuts two ways:
If your Redmond lot has room for an ADU, the zoning is on your side; verify current requirements with the City of Redmond before building.
This is information, not legal advice; talk to your attorney about your specific lease. Two layers of law shape 2026 pricing in Redmond:
Redmond also caps combined move-in fees and deposits at one month's rent with installment rights (RMC 9.54.040). On the other side of the ledger, Redmond runs no rental registration or inspection program, and a landlord with four or fewer long-term units at one location does not need a city business license (RMC 5.04.130). Most 2026 renewals will land well inside the cap; the constraint that actually bites is the calendar, not the ceiling.
A strong market rewards owners who do not coast on it:
Putting a former residence on the rental market for the first time? Our guide to renting out your home in Redmond walks through the steps in order. Owners weighing nearby markets can compare notes with the Kirkland rental market 2026 outlook.
Apartment List's August 2026 Redmond Rent Report puts the citywide median rent at $2,324. Zumper's August 2026 listing data shows a median one bedroom at $2,346 and a two bedroom at $3,026. A single-family rental house typically sits above the apartment medians.
Up. Apartment List's August 2026 report shows Redmond up 2.3 percent year over year and up 6.5 percent through the first seven months of 2026, the fastest growth of any city in the Seattle metro, while the metro overall is down 1.2 percent. Zumper's August 2026 listing data shows one bedroom asking rents up 8 percent year over year.
Washington State's cap under RCW 59.18.700 governs the amount: the Department of Commerce set it at 9.683 percent for 2026 and 10 percent for 2027, for tenancies covered by the law. Redmond adds notice tiers under RMC 9.54.030: an increase over 3 percent requires 120 days' written notice, and over 10 percent requires 180 days, though the state cap generally keeps covered tenancies below that level. This is information, not legal advice.
Yes. The Downtown Redmond Link extension opened May 10, 2025, adding the Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond stations, and the 2 Line's Crosslake Connection opened March 28, 2026, per Sound Transit. The line now runs from Downtown Redmond across Lake Washington into downtown Seattle and north to Lynnwood.
A vacant home is won or lost on speed and presentation, so we treat both as disciplines, not hopes. Every day a unit sits empty is income the owner never gets back, and the listing that responds first and looks best is the one that fills. Here is how we run it:
You set the goal, whether that leans toward top rent or fastest occupancy. We bring the market read, run the system, and report the numbers every week until the lease is signed.
Speed and presentation are not luck. They are how we shorten your vacancy.
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