Sell Your Commercial Property In Bellevue, WA

Who rents in Bellevue

Bellevue has the highest incomes and rents of the Washington cities we cover. The 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts 151,847 residents and 61,977 occupied homes, of which 29,743 (48.0%) are rented. The median household income is $165,576, and the median gross rent is $2,572 a month.

Tech payrolls drive that demand. Amazon remained Bellevue’s largest employer in 2025 with 15,700 workers, about 10% of the city’s workforce, up 1,400 from 2024, according to The Seattle Times, citing the city’s latest financial report. Amazon still says it plans to reach 25,000 employees in Bellevue. Meta is second with 6,300 workers, and TikTok grew from 1,700 to 2,200. Six of the city’s top 10 employers are tech or tech-adjacent. The same report notes layoffs: 263 Amazon employees in Bellevue in October 2025 and 626 in January 2026.

Rents and affordability

Bellevue’s median rent is higher than HUD’s FY2026 Fair Market Rent for every unit size up to two bedrooms in the Seattle-Bellevue FMR area. That means voucher-backed leases generally pay below the city’s typical rent, so most Bellevue owners lease to market-rate tenants.

Only 34.3% of Bellevue renter households spend 30% or more of income on rent, the lowest share among the cities in our Washington coverage. But 19.9% spend half or more, about the same as in Seattle, so the renter base is split between well-paid tech workers and lower-income households.

The apartment stock

Bellevue is an apartment-heavy city. Of 66,021 housing units in ACS table B25024, 28,023 (42.4%) are in buildings with five or more units, and 14,014 units, 21.2% of all homes, are in buildings of 50 or more. Smaller buildings hold 5,345 units (5–9), 3,497 units (10–19) and 5,167 units (20–49). Detached houses make up 46.4% of units. The median year built is 1982.

Our Bellevue page covers Downtown Bellevue, Crossroads, Factoria and Eastgate, and building age varies widely across them. Units with a first certificate of occupancy 12 or fewer years old are exempt from the state rent cap under RCW 59.18.710, so new downtown towers can price to market while older buildings are held to the cap.

The office market is weaker than the job counts suggest. Downtown Bellevue office vacancy was 22% as of June 2026, compared with as low as 3.3% before the pandemic, according to a Colliers report cited by The Seattle Times. Microsoft and Expedia moved thousands of workers to Redmond and Seattle over the past five years. Amazon has resumed work on leased towers but has not opened several downtown buildings.

Property taxes in Bellevue

The King County Assessor values apartments at market value, revalues every year and inspects at least every six years under RCW 84.41.041, with no per-parcel cap. Appeals go to the county board of equalization by July 1 or within 30 days of the value notice, or a longer county-set window, per RCW 84.40.038.

Bellevue’s rates are well below Seattle’s. The 2026 King County levy table shows $7.42658 per $1,000 of assessed value for the main Bellevue codes in the Bellevue School District. Codes inside the Issaquah School District run from $8.42794 to $9.32875, and the highest Bellevue code is $9.68982. For comparison, most Seattle codes are $9.90845. The district detail shows Bellevue School District levies of $1.92214. On a building assessed at $5 million at the main rate, the annual tax is about $37,133.

Washington’s graduated real estate excise tax usually falls on the seller. For 2026 closings, the state portion is 1.10% up to $525,000, 1.28% up to $1,525,000, 2.75% up to $3,025,000 and 3.0% above, plus local REET. On a $5 million sale, the state portion alone is about $119,075.

Landlord rules

Washington’s rent stabilization law caps increases at 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is lower, with 90 days’ notice and no increase in the first year of a tenancy, according to the Attorney General. Commerce set the cap at 9.683% for 2026 and 10% for 2027. RCW 35.21.830 bars Bellevue from adopting its own rent control.

What this means if you own a building here

Bellevue buyers pay for high incomes, low property tax rates and Amazon’s commitment to the city. They will also discount for office vacancy, tech layoffs and the cap on how fast older buildings can raise rents. With the median rent already above the two-bedroom FMR, upside comes from operations, not catch-up rent. Model your net operating income carefully and test pricing with our cap rate calculator. Skyline Capital buys 5+ unit buildings across Bellevue, including Crossroads, Factoria and Eastgate. Our seller page explains how we make offers.