Skamania County, WA

County Profile

12,402 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Skamania 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.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 15% of 1,225 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity674th of 1,255 counties54
Growth770th of 1,226 counties43
Housing affordability1029th of 1,255 counties74
Climate717th of 1,254 counties65
Physical resilience1159th of 1,255 counties20
Access825th of 1,255 counties73
Economic stability659th of 1,255 counties60
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $93,265, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published profiles.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 5.7 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 14% of it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and volcanic activity.

At a glance

Population
12,402
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$93,265
Top 8% nationally
Density
7/sq mi
1658.3 sq mi of land
Median age
48.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Skamania County
Washington
Metro area
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Nearest major airport
PDX
43 mi · Portland Intl
Median home value
$529,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 54% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Unemployment has been falling for 4 consecutive months, most recently 4.1%.

Employment fell 1.4% over the past year, to 5,548 employed residents.

30% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US locations.

Household income is higher than at least 92% of measured US locations.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,234$93,265Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,717$47,949Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate8.1%Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute33.9 minTop 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher29.8%Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment5,548Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-4.0%Bottom 9%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.4%Bottom 33%June 2026
Labor force5,788Bottom 1%June 2026
Labor force participation57.0%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 33%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 46%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.52.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202493k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $93,265 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.
Largest occupations — Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers34,840$35,620
Retail Salespersons28,230$37,340
Stockers and Order Fillers26,750$44,440
Registered Nurses24,220$130,310
Home Health and Personal Care Aides22,860$45,570
General and Operations Managers21,070$121,050

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are 17.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cape Horn Skye ElementaryWashougal School District28417.8
Stevenson High SchoolStevenson-Carson School District27120.8
Wind River Middle SchoolStevenson-Carson School District18620.7
Canyon Creek Middle SchoolWashougal School District16821.0
Skamania ElementarySkamania School District10815.4
Mount Pleasant SchoolMount Pleasant School District6913.8
Mill A Elementary SchoolMill A School District4314.3
Pacific Crest Innovation AcademyMill A School District254.2
PreschoolStevenson-Carson School District8

42.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Washington’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,068 takes 14% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.7 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
13.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,068
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$529,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.68Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate80.0%Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±295,973Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$115$1,068Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$39,153$529,500Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income13.7%Bottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.0%Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
43/ 100
Ranks 770 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 grown 5% since 2020, reaching 12,660 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 3.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
43
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.5
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
−14%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202413k12k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420258234
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−30%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 88.9 inches, including 55.0 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CARSON FISH HATCHERY, 10.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND15.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation88.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall55.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing32°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

20 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and volcanic activity.

Volcanic activityHigh
WildfireHigh
LandslideModerate
Inland floodingHigh
AvalancheModerate
Heat waveModerate
Strong windModerate

Low or minimal exposure: earthquake, cold wave, ice storm, winter weather, coastal flooding, drought, tornado, lightning, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Skamania County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 30.8 per 100,000 residents in Skamania County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
30.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
17.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Skamania County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Skamania County rather than Skamania County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 43 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Portland IntlPDX43 mi11,000 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA100 mi11,901 ft
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI105 mi10,007 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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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

Cities in Skamania County, WA