The largest city in the Northern U.S. between Seattle and Minneapolis, Spokane serves as a major hub for distribution and production and offers a reprieve from expensive coastal markets with its business-friendly economy and affordable cost of living. Spokane has seen steady population, employment, wage, and rent growth over the last 20 years, with a recent population boom since 2020. The market’s largest employers include Fairchild Air Force Base, Providence, MultiCare, and Eastern Washington University. A center for higher education, Spokane boasts six institutions including Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, and Whitworth universities.
Spokane International Airport, located seven miles west of downtown, supplies the primary transportation network for the Inland Northwest. The city is situated along the Spokane River and within easy reach of year-round outdoor recreation such as skiing at Schweitzer, hiking at Mount Spokane, and water activities on the Spokane River or Northern Idaho lakes. Spokane’s position between the Cascade and Rocky mountain ranges creates four distinct seasons, with access to five ski resorts and dozens of scenic lakes within a 90-minute drive.
As the largest market in the Inland Northwest, Spokane presents the highest number of opportunities for investors, simply based on inventory. This means you can enter the market and scale to operational efficiencies quicker than in other markets.
Spokane’s submarkets vary widely in quality and investor appetite, this means that knowing the blocks, neighborhoods, and who lives where can provide you with outsized returns compared to other markets where nearly every neighborhood is high-quality.
Spokane’s downtown is often a double-edged sword, but Spokane is one of the only markets in the Inland Northwest with a true downtown featuring newer high-rises, parking structures, and walkability. This downtown atmosphere attracts many young people who decide to stay in Spokane after attending university here.
⅓ of Spokane is owned by a single family, and another ⅓ owned by another seven families. This means that it’s important to know who owns land or buildings near you, how they operate, and who your competition is when investing in specific submarkets. If one family decides to keep rents low, rents in the submarket will generally stay low.
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