The Latest News
- Help keep our network growing by making a gift to HSN through the Give Jefferson campaign! (Just scroll down to find HSN).
- Bayside Housing is seeking a Development Director to expand the organization’s fundraising efforts and grow their impact. Know someone who is interested? Let’s help Bayside find the right fit so they can grow into a new phase of their work. Read the job description.
- OLYCAP has secured $75,000 from the County in their efforts to leverage millions of state and federal dollars, as well as tax credits, to build a 44-unit housing development. Read more, and consider giving to the cause.
- The Fund for Women and Girls has released their RFP for a two-year grant for organizations addressing our housing challenges. Applications due October 4th.
- Interested in additional grant funding for your housing project? Be sure to check out our grant funding page to determine which are a fit for your project.
Tiny Homes and ADUs
Tiny homes and ADU's are becoming an increasingly popular response to housing challenges in the state. Dig in deeper to see if renting out or living in a tiny home is for you.
Community Engagement and Investment Portfolio
Looking for ways to contribute? Find ways to engage with projects underway in Jefferson County through donating time, land, dollars or materials.
Affordable Housing 101
New to the topic of housing affordability? Learn the basics of how housing becomes affordable and find resources on how to learn more.
Jefferson County Housing by the Numbers
- Jefferson County is the 3rd most unaffordable county in Washington State (University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies)
- 47% of Jefferson County renters are cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income on rent (American Community Survey)
- 25% of units in the County sit vacant for a large portion of the year (likely for part-time residents or vacation rentals), lowering the supply of housing and increasing costs for permanent year-round residents (2018 Jefferson County Housing Element)
- Rental vacancy rates hover between 0-1% (the national average is around 7%), so that even those with stable incomes simply cannot find available housing (Washington Department of Commerce)
- Median home prices have increased from $241,700 to $361,900 between 2015-2018 – an unbelievable jump of 49% in just three years (University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies)
- The lack of housing is a major barrier to economic development throughout the County – we know of at least nine small- to medium-sized businesses that decided not to relocate to Jefferson County due to the lack of available workforce housing
- Currently, 45% of our County’s workforce commute in from another county (WorkSource)
- Ensuring that a younger workforce can afford to live locally is critical to the future of community institutions. Jefferson Healthcare must maintain a minimum of 20% of patients who use private insurance in order to stay in the black. Once they go above 80% of patients using Medicare and Medicaid, they will experience serious financial challenges. They are currently at 78.5% Medicare and Medicaid patients and the workforce trends are moving them closer to that line, putting the future of our hospital at stake.
