Pullman, Washington
Area Profile
32,229 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Pullman, in Whitman County.
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
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$2,689 | $46,812 | Bottom 18% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,377 | $31,584 | Bottom 42% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 30.4% | Top 10% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 15.9 min | Bottom 7% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 61.4% | Top 6% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Employment | 13,462 | Bottom 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 force | 14,000 | Bottom 9% | June 2026 |
| Labor force participation | 64.9% | Top 34% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year) | 0.0% | Bottom 48% | June 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.8% | Bottom 26% | June 2026 |
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.
| Metric | Value | Compared with peers | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 9.07 | Top 2% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 32.0% | Bottom 3% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±269 | 15,131 | Top 4% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$35 | $1,062 | Top 43% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$21,950 | $424,800 | Top 16% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 27.2% | Top 11% | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 16.2% | 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 →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.
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.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 17.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 28°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 83°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 4 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 35°F | 1991-2020 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
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.
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.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spokane Intl | GEG | 64 mi | 8,199 ft |
| Grant County Intl | MWH | 107 mi | 13,503 ft |
| Missoula Montana | MSO | 146 mi | 9,501 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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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | June 2026 | Monthly |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, 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| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99163 | 34,022 | $48,231 | 49 |