Port Orchard, Washington

Area Profile

17,149 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Port Orchard, in Kitsap County.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 50% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 34% of 4,199 cities measured64
Schools2,314th of 4,162 cities measured45
GrowthTop 17% of 4,224 cities measured68
Housing affordability3,310th of 4,218 cities measured51
ClimateTop 35% of 4,225 cities measured74
Physical resilience2,844th of 4,226 cities measured42
Access2,308th of 4,226 cities measured91
Economic stability2,743rd of 4,226 cities measured50
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $89,795, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Kitsap County, WA, which contains Port Orchard, rather than for Port Orchard alone.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.8 students for every teacher.

392 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% 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
17,149
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$89,795
Top 25% nationally
Density
1,778/sq mi
9.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington
Nearest major airport
BFI
15 mi · Boeing Fld/King County Intl
Median home value
$539,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Kitsap County, WA, which contains Port Orchard, is 3.5%, lower than in 81% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Kitsap County, WA, which contains Port Orchard, fell 1.3% over the past year, to 116,016 employed residents.

35% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsKitsap County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$85,07666th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftKitsap County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$77,51459th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$14,1882024 ACS 5-Year$89,795Top 25%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,3852024 ACS 5-Year$45,489Top 23%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.1%Top 43%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.0 minBottom 22%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year34.9%Top 24%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year68.1%24th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentKitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 2026116,016Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Kitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 2026−0.9%Bottom 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Kitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 2026−1.3%Bottom 37%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceKitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 2026120,21459th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year72.8%Bottom 33%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageBremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$77,020Top 25%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageBremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$63,200Top 10%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.8%97th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Kitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 2026−0.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateKitsap County, WA’s figureJuly 20263.5%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year13.4%72nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202490k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $89,795 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 — Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,180$37,080
Retail Salespersons2,770$38,470
Business Operations Specialists, All Other2,360$105,250
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,130$46,980
Cashiers1,790$38,100
Stockers and Order Fillers1,690$44,140

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Kitsap County, WA, which contains this city.

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

There are 16.8 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
17
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.8
across 15 of them
Math proficiency
48.9%
Bottom 46% in Washington
Reading proficiency
65.0%
Bottom 48% in Washington
The 12 largest of 17 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
South Kitsap High SchoolSouth Kitsap School District2,44820.230%67%
John Sedgwick Middle SchoolSouth Kitsap School District73117.454%67%
Cedar Heights Middle SchoolSouth Kitsap School District68918.647%60%
Marcus Whitman Middle SchoolSouth Kitsap School District62315.240%57%
Orchard Heights ElementarySouth Kitsap School District52913.268%66%
Sunnyslope Elementary SchoolSouth Kitsap School District50315.261%65%
Sidney Glen Elementary SchoolSouth Kitsap School District50213.961%59%
Manchester Elementary SchoolSouth Kitsap School District45814.858%59%
Burley Glenwood ElementarySouth Kitsap School District45216.761%63%
Hidden Creek Elementary SchoolSouth Kitsap School District43915.167%68%
East Port Orchard ElementarySouth Kitsap School District42314.653%53%
Mullenix Ridge Elementary SchoolSouth Kitsap School District37214.369%76%

46.7% 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 7% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 107.4, 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 Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area is up 26% over five years, and up 0.1% 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 $3,992 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.74% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,031, some 13% above the $1,797 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,031 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $81,200 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $89,795.

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 $1,797 a month.

A median home at $539,700 costs 4.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $117,625, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
107.4

Prices here run about 7% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, 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
32.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,031
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,797
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$539,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Port Orchard’s median household income of $89,795, 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 Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2023107.4Bottom 28%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+0.1%8th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+25.7%9th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+103.5%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year4.6Bottom 11%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year62.0%23rd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4182024 ACS 5-Year7,55992nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,548Bottom 40%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,676Bottom 30%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,031Bottom 31%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$692024 ACS 5-Year$1,797Bottom 12%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$26,8682024 ACS 5-Year$539,70090th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2702024 ACS 5-Year$3,99283rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,1632024 ACS 5-Year$117,625Top 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.74%32nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year32.1%Bottom 31%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1422024 ACS 5-Year21494th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%74th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%39th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2202024 ACS 5-Year59491st 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

68/ 100
Top 17% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, 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 grown 22% since 2020, reaching 19,122 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 494 units authorized in 2025, up 16% on the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 19,122 residents in 2024, up 5.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

Federal tax returns show Kitsap County, which contains Port Orchard, gained about 0.5% 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 $85,076, above the $77,514 of households that moved out.

At 22.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
392
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
22.9
Top 2% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
47.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202419k16k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
59%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$85,076
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$77,514
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. King County, WA 2,186 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Pierce County, WA 1,887 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. San Diego County, CA 597 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  4. Snohomish County, WA 553 people · 3.4% of arrivals
  5. Mason County, WA 458 people · 2.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Pierce County, WA 1,441 people · 9.5% of departures
  2. King County, WA 1,290 people · 8.5% of departures
  3. San Diego County, CA 979 people · 6.5% of departures
  4. Mason County, WA 675 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Snohomish County, WA 390 people · 2.6% 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 Kitsap County, WA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025565259
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+91%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 77°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 36.5 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 19, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SEATTLE BOEING FLD, 15.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals36.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year192024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
19
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
38
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

42 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and tsunami, with earthquake alone responsible for 76% of it. Inland flooding and tsunami are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

EarthquakeHigh
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, heat wave, inland flooding, volcanic activity, tsunami, winter weather, lightning, ice storm, wildfire, tornado, strong wind, hail, avalanche, drought, cold wave, 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
298
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,232
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.

Port Orchard's police department reported 298 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,232.

Kitsap County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.5 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 7.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.1 per 100,000 residents in Kitsap County.

Homicide
2.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
7.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
19.1
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.1
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 Port Orchard’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 Port Orchard (Kitsap County) rather than Port Orchard 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 15 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year96.9%Top 16%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle15 miTop 44%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.3%Top 21%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI15 mi10,007 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA16 mi11,901 ft
Portland IntlPDX135 mi11,000 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
59
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Other cities in Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
BremertonKitsap County44,83050Bremerton vs Port Orchard
Bainbridge IslandKitsap County24,63165Bainbridge Island vs Port Orchard
SilverdaleKitsap County20,68560Silverdale vs Port Orchard
PoulsboKitsap County12,16563

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 Port Orchard side by side with a similar place.

Port Orchard vs PoulsboPort Orchard vs Oregon City

Moving to Port Orchard 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 Port Orchard

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Port Orchard with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9836636,965$92,011$475,80060
9836731,756$115,482$565,10062