Mount Vernon, Washington

Area Profile

35,377 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Mount Vernon, in Skagit County.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 23% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 25% of 4,199 cities measured69
Schools3,760th of 4,162 cities measured18
GrowthTop 39% of 4,224 cities measured55
Housing affordability3,444th of 4,218 cities measured48
ClimateTop 35% of 4,225 cities measured74
Physical resilience3,206th of 4,226 cities measured31
Access3,937th of 4,226 cities measured62
Economic stability2,615th of 4,226 cities measured52
The quick read

Mount Vernon ranks in the top 25% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.8% and median household income of $75,777.

In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.3 students for every teacher.

61 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with 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
35,377
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,777
Top 38% nationally
Density
2,877/sq mi
12.3 sq mi of land
Median age
36.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington
Nearest major airport
BFI
61 mi · Boeing Fld/King County Intl
Median home value
$472,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8%, lower than in 69% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 15,624 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsSkagit County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$83,35564th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftSkagit County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$74,16955th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,0492024 ACS 5-Year$75,777Top 38%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,0712024 ACS 5-Year$37,069Top 40%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.2%Bottom 34%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.4 minTop 43%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.9%Top 34%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year74.3%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202615,624Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.0%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 27%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202616,23414th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.6%Top 49%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$71,790Top 39%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageMount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$59,590Top 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%80th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.8%Top 31%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%72nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.73.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% 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

202120222023202476k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,777 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 — Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,730$39,240
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,580$36,890
Cashiers1,270$37,960
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,200$42,690
Registered Nurses1,190$106,730
Stockers and Order Fillers900$44,300

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.3 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.3
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
38.7%
Bottom 16% in Washington
Reading proficiency
52.5%
Bottom 11% in Washington
The 12 largest of 14 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mount Vernon High SchoolMount Vernon School District1,84920.830%62%
La Venture Middle SchoolMount Vernon School District66319.534%36%
Madison ElementaryMount Vernon School District49814.640%34%
Jefferson ElementaryMount Vernon School District44513.557%54%
Harriet RowleyMount Vernon School District44012.9——
Centennial Elementary SchoolMount Vernon School District43015.453%51%
Washington Elementary SchoolMount Vernon School District31811.849%47%
Skagit AcademyMount Vernon School District30030.042%67%
Mount Vernon Special EdMount Vernon School District15276.0——
Good Beginnings CenterSedro-Woolley School District8643.0——
Mount Vernon Open DoorsMount Vernon School District84———
Northwest Career & Technical Academy/A WA Skills CenterMount Vernon School District433.1——

65.8% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 6% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 105.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 3.5% 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 $4,268 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.90% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,720, some 22% above the $1,405 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,720 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $68,800 a year, about 91% of the median household income here of $75,777.

The typical renter household here spends 34% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,405 a month.

A median home at $472,300 costs 4.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $102,552, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
105.9

Prices here run about 6% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
33.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,720
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,405
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$472,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Mount Vernon’s median household income of $75,777, 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
Cost of living indexthe Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2023105.9Bottom 32%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.5%59th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+40.3%42nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+127.4%94th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.6Bottom 11%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year60.3%21st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4582024 ACS 5-Year13,62396th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,311Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,392Bottom 38%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,720Bottom 46%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$842024 ACS 5-Year$1,405Bottom 23%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,7302024 ACS 5-Year$472,30087th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1482024 ACS 5-Year$4,26885th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,9532024 ACS 5-Year$102,552Top 25%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.90%46th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year33.5%Bottom 25%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±362024 ACS 5-Year2072nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year1.8%20th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1252024 ACS 5-Year26082nd percentileof 32,3302024 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

55/ 100
Top 39% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 35,344 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 67 units authorized in 2025, 39% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Skagit County, which contains Mount Vernon, gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $83,355, above the $74,169 of households that moved out.

At 1.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
61
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.7
Bottom 37% nationally
Year over year
0%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
57.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202435k35k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
38%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$83,355
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$74,169
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Snohomish County, WA 1,203 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Whatcom County, WA 799 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. King County, WA 702 people · 12% of arrivals
  4. Island County, WA 382 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  5. Pierce County, WA 107 people · 1.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Snohomish County, WA 1,027 people · 18% of departures
  2. Whatcom County, WA 685 people · 12% of departures
  3. King County, WA 385 people · 6.7% of departures
  4. Island County, WA 355 people · 6.2% of departures
  5. Pierce County, WA 126 people · 2.2% 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. This is the figure for Skagit County, WA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202517615
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−26%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 26, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WHIDBEY ISLAND NAS, 16.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year262024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
26
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
41
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

31 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and coastal flooding, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% of it.

Volcanic activityElevated
EarthquakeHigh
LandslideModerate
Coastal floodingHigh
Inland floodingElevated
AvalancheModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
130
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,494
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Mount Vernon's police department reported 130 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,494.

Skagit County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.3 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 31.2 per 100,000 residents in Skagit County.

Homicide
4.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.7
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
31.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.5
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Mount Vernon’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Mount Vernon (Skagit County) rather than Mount Vernon itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. 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 61 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year94.3%Top 28%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle61 miBottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%Top 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI61 mi10,007 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA67 mi11,901 ft
Grant County IntlMWH162 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
51
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
AnacortesSkagit County17,96660Anacortes vs Mount Vernon
Sedro-WoolleySkagit County12,83150Sedro-Woolley vs Mount Vernon
BurlingtonSkagit County10,00354Burlington vs Mount Vernon

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Mount Vernon side by side with a similar place.

Mount Vernon vs Sedro-WoolleyMount Vernon vs Wenatchee

Moving to Mount Vernon from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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.

ZIP codes in Mount Vernon

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Mount Vernon with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Mount Vernon closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9827330,001$76,717$492,300—