Island County, WA

County Profile

86,836 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Island County, WA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 33% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 5% of 1,463 counties measured82
SchoolsTop 34% of 1,377 counties measured63
Growth941st of 1,453 counties measured42
Housing affordability1,411th of 1,462 counties measured43
ClimateTop 30% of 1,463 counties measured74
Physical resilienceTop 46% of 1,463 counties measured62
Access999th of 1,463 counties measured71
Economic stabilityTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured70
The quick read

Island County ranks in the top 5% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $90,551.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.9 students for every teacher.

268 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 12% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
86,836
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$90,551
Top 9% nationally
Density
417/sq mi
208.5 sq mi of land
Median age
44.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Island County
Washington
Micro area
Nearest major airport
BFI
47 mi · Boeing Fld/King County Intl
Median home value
$593,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4%, lower than in 77% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 34,115 employed residents.

37% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $90,551 is higher than in 91% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$89,40888th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$72,95481st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0012024 ACS 5-Year$90,551Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4532024 ACS 5-Year$47,282Top 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$70,195Top 17%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.8%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year27.7 minBottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year36.6%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year68.7%12th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,115Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.0%Top 38%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+2.1%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202635,30550th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year74.7%Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year2.1%95th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.9%Top 14%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.4%Top 23%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year14.1%84th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.23.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.4% in July 2026. It has been falling for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202491k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $90,551 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 65% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.9 students for every full-time teacher across 18 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
25
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.9
across 18 of them
Math proficiency
49.4%
Top 27% in Washington
Reading proficiency
64.8%
Top 27% in Washington
The 12 largest of 25 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Oak Harbor High SchoolOak Harbor School District1,56219.338%66%
Oak Harbor Intermediate SchoolOak Harbor School District76717.447%60%
North Whidbey Middle SchoolOak Harbor School District70516.448%61%
Coupeville Elementary SchoolCoupeville School District49219.757%72%
South Whidbey ElementarySouth Whidbey School District48517.344%59%
Hillcrest ElementaryOak Harbor School District46014.866%67%
Crescent Harbor ElemOak Harbor School District41914.452%57%
Olympic View ElemOak Harbor School District41112.837%37%
Oak Harbor ElementaryOak Harbor School District41115.257%57%
Utsalady ElementaryStanwood-Camano School District39115.657%72%
South Whidbey High SchoolSouth Whidbey School District39017.762%82%
HomeconnectionOak Harbor School District38564.245%75%

41.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Washington’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Washington is up 35% over five years, and up 1.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,999 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.67% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,671, close to the $1,662 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,671 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $66,800 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $90,551.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,662 a month.

A median home at $593,300 costs 5.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $102,975, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
31.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,671
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,662
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$593,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Island County’s median household income of $90,551, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Washington’s figure2026 Q2+1.8%20th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Washington’s figure2026 Q2+35.1%16th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Washington’s figure2026 Q2+118.1%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year5.8Bottom 2%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year74.7%51st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±662024 ACS 5-Year42,74480th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,356Bottom 20%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,324Bottom 12%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,671Bottom 19%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$532024 ACS 5-Year$1,662Bottom 5%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,8962024 ACS 5-Year$593,30097th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1062024 ACS 5-Year$3,99993rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,2032024 ACS 5-Year$102,975Top 12%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year0.67%38th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.5%Bottom 17%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±5542024 ACS 5-Year4,29992nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year10.1%81st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.8%23rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±6462024 ACS 5-Year6,77285th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

42/ 100
Ranks 941 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 86,478 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 209 units authorized in 2025, 48% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Island County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $89,408, above the $72,954 of households that moved out.

At 3.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
268
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Top 46% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
38.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202488k86k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
58%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$89,408
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$72,954
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Snohomish County, WA 948 people · 14% of arrivals
  2. King County, WA 822 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Skagit County, WA 355 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  4. San Diego County, CA 262 people · 3.9% of arrivals
  5. Whatcom County, WA 145 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Snohomish County, WA 748 people · 11% of departures
  2. King County, WA 432 people · 6.5% of departures
  3. Skagit County, WA 382 people · 5.8% of departures
  4. San Diego County, CA 203 people · 3.1% of departures
  5. Whatcom County, WA 194 people · 2.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025402209
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−48%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 69°F and January a low of 38°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 19.9 inches, including 5.4 inches of snow.

30°50°70°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WHIDBEY ISLAND NAS, 13.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals19.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals5.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals69°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and landslide, with earthquake alone responsible for 57% of it. Inland flooding and landslide are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

EarthquakeHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
TsunamiModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, ice storm, inland flooding, cold wave, winter weather, wildfire, heat wave, lightning, tornado, hail, strong wind, drought, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Island County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.9 per 100,000 residents in Island County.

Homicide
2.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
13.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Island County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Boeing Fld/King County Intl at 47 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year94.8%Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle47 miBottom 34%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year3.0%Top 2%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI47 mi10,007 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA52 mi11,901 ft
Grant County IntlMWH169 mi13,503 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.