As Governor Bob Ferguson prepares his 2026 budget proposal, Washington homebuilders are reminding him that building new homes not only addresses the state’s housing shortage, but it also brings much-needed state and local tax revenue, jobs and economic prosperity.

According to two new reports by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), commissioned by the Building Industry Association of Washington, for every single-family home built, communities can count on $74,000 in surplus public revenue in the first year alone.

The reports provide a stark contrast to the state’s latest economic forecast, which ties the state’s deepening deficit to lower-than-projected residential homebuilding permits.

“We have a message for Gov. Ferguson: It’s time to put homebuilding on the top of your agenda,” said BIAW Executive Vice President Greg Lane. “Every day we delay affects our state’s bottom line and the economic vitality of thousands of businesses and their employees. Building more new homes benefits families and businesses across the state.”

Supporting new homes brings impressive ROI

In one report, The Economic Impact of Home Building in Washington: Comparing Costs to Revenue for State and Local Governments, NAHB compared the cost of new home building to the benefits to state and local governments.

Over 15 years, new homes return $2 for every $1 invested in infrastructure to support these homes, like roads, schools and other services—or roughly $9.339 billion. (Figure 2)

And that’s a conservative estimate, considering homebuilders pay on average $38,618 in permit, impact, and utility fees to local governments per single-family dwelling.

NAHB used the number of new single- and multi-family homes built in Washington during the 12-month period ending April 2025, as estimated by the state’s Office of Financial Management (OFM), to build its report.

Based on these numbers, they found, in the first year, building 14,348 single-family and 32,368 multi-family homes in Washington results in:

• Nearly $3.96 billion in tax and other revenue for state and local governments in the state,
• $304 million in state and local spending to provide public services to the net new households at current levels, and
• $559 million in capital investment for new structures and equipment undertaken by the state and local governments

This assumes state and local governments finance this capital investment by borrowing at the prevailing rate of 4.11% on tax-exempt bonds.

In a typical year after the first, these single-family and multifamily homes:

• Bring in $1.06 billion in tax & other revenue for state and local governments, and
• Require $609 million in state and local government expenditures to continue providing services at current levels.

New homes bring more income, jobs and taxes

Beyond tax revenue, home building brings economic prosperity and housing opportunities to families across Washington.

In The Economic Impact of Home Building in Washington: Income, Jobs and Taxes Generated, released in late November 2025, NAHB estimates every new single-family home built in Washington supports the equivalent of three new full-time jobs for one year.

Based on these estimates, in the first year alone, building 14,348 single-family homes in Washington results in:

• $5.16 billion in income for Washington residents,
• $1.25 billion in taxes and other revenue for the state government and local governments in the state, and
• 44,686 jobs.

On-going annual impacts include:

• $978 million in income for Washington residents,
• $355 million in taxes and other revenue for the state and local governments in the state, and
• 10,041 jobs in Washington.

When NAHB factored in the estimated effects of new multi-family housing, based on same period, they reported that building 32,368 multi-family units provides:

• $10.91 billion in income for Washington residents;
• $2.18 billion in taxes and other revenue, and
• 92,916 jobs.

The additional, annually recurring impacts of building those homes in Washington include:

• $2.17 billion in income for Washington residents,
• $702 million in taxes and other revenue for the state government and local governments in the state, and
• 22,345 jobs in Washington.

Time to prioritize home building

As Washington continues to fall further behind in its goal of building 50,000 new housing units annually to keep up with population growth, the solution seems clear.

“We stand ready to work with Gov. Ferguson, legislators and local governments to clear barriers for new home building,” Lane said. “Gov. Inslee’s misguided climate agenda made housing more and more expensive to build in Washington—pricing thousands of families out of home ownership. It’s time for Ferguson to take action to make new homes more accessible for everyone.”

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