AreaProfile

Pullman, Washington

Area Profile

32,229 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Pullman, in Whitman County.

48
Area Score
Bottom 7% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1254th of 1,567 published cities42
Growth1215th of 1,503 published cities32
Housing affordability1830th of 1,876 published cities34
Climate1206th of 1,876 published cities65
Physical resilienceTop 40% of 1,849 published cities67
Access1787th of 1,876 published cities56
Economic stability1709th of 1,876 published cities35
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 3.8% and the Opportunity signal places Pullman in the bottom 20%.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 27% of median household income.

Its Area Score of 48 places Pullman in the top 93% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
32,229
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$46,812
Bottom 18% nationally
Density
2,898/sq mi
11.1 sq mi of land
Median age
23.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Whitman County
Washington
Metro area
Pullman, WA
Nearest major airport
GEG
64 mi · Spokane Intl
Median home value
$424,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 74% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.8% over the past year, to 13,462 employed residents.

61% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 94% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $46,812 is below 82% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,689$46,812Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,377$31,584Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate30.4%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute15.9 minBottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher61.4%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment13,462Bottom 10%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-5.9%Bottom 1%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.8%Bottom 11%June 2026
Labor force14,000Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force participation64.9%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 48%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 26%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/064.52.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202447k32k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $46,812 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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,062 takes 27% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 9.1 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
27.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
9.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,062
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$424,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income9.07Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate32.0%Bottom 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±26915,131Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$35$1,062Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$21,950$424,800Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.2%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate16.2%Top 31%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
32/ 100
Ranks 1215 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 4 consecutive years, 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 2% since 2020, reaching 33,543 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 4 consecutive years.

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

At 0.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
13
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.4
Bottom 15% nationally
Year over year
+63%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202434k29k
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
20202021202220232024202535811
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−78%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 17.5 inches.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PULLMAN MOSCOW RGNL AP, 2.9 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND2.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation17.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing35°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

67 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and heat wave.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 80% of measured US cities.

LandslideModerate
WildfireModerate
Cold waveModerate
Heat waveElevated
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HailModerate

Low or minimal exposure: avalanche, ice storm, winter weather, drought, strong wind, tornado, lightning.

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 64 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Spokane IntlGEG64 mi8,199 ft
Grant County IntlMWH107 mi13,503 ft
Missoula MontanaMSO146 mi9,501 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
48
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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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Pullman

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9916334,022$48,23149