Snohomish, Washington

Area Profile

10,239 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Snohomish, in Snohomish County.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 22% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,482nd of 4,199 cities measured52
Schools2,207th of 4,162 cities measured48
Growth3,566th of 4,224 cities measured31
Housing affordability3,699th of 4,218 cities measured42
ClimateTop 35% of 4,225 cities measured74
Physical resilience2,732nd of 4,226 cities measured45
Access3,204th of 4,226 cities measured82
Economic stability2,140th of 4,226 cities measured58
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.0% and median household income $87,250, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, rather than for Snohomish alone.

In the public schools here, 53% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.8 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, rather than for Snohomish alone.

Residential permitting has slowed: 8 units authorized over the past twelve months, 85% below the prior year.

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
10,239
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$87,250
Top 27% nationally
Density
2,908/sq mi
3.5 sq mi of land
Median age
42.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington
Nearest major airport
BFI
29 mi · Boeing Fld/King County Intl
Median home value
$683,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, is 5.0% — higher than in all but 25% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, fell 0.7% over the past year, to 435,729 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsSnohomish County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$99,67380th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftSnohomish County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$94,34180th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$12,1452024 ACS 5-Year$87,250Top 27%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,6302024 ACS 5-Year$51,704Top 16%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.9%Top 33%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year31.9 minBottom 26%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year34.4%Top 25%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year74.4%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentSnohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 2026435,729Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Snohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 20260.0%Top 45%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Snohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 2026−0.7%Top 48%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceSnohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 2026458,52480th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.1%Bottom 43%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$91,790Top 8%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageSeattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$72,610Top 4%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%91st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Snohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 2026+0.3%Bottom 29%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateSnohomish County, WA’s figureJuly 20265.0%Bottom 25%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.0%68th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202487k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $87,250 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 — Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Software Developers92,770$167,280
Home Health and Personal Care Aides54,670$48,210
Fast Food and Counter Workers49,190$39,150
Retail Salespersons46,620$42,080
Registered Nurses39,900$128,260
Business Operations Specialists, All Other38,800$101,920

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 Snohomish County, WA, which contains this city.

53% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, rather than for Snohomish alone.

There are 18.8 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Snohomish County, WA, which contains Snohomish, rather than for Snohomish alone.

Public schools
—
Students per teacher
18.8
Math proficiency
52.5%
Top 47% in Washington
Reading proficiency
67.4%
Top 45% in Washington

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Snohomish County, WA: too few schools in Snohomish reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.

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 13% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 112.7, 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 Everett, WA Metropolitan Division is up 32% over five years, but down 0.5% 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 $5,461 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.80% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,501, some 51% above the $1,654 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,501 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $100,000 a year, about 115% of the median household income here of $87,250.

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 $1,654 a month.

A median home at $683,900 costs 5.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $116,658, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
112.7

Prices here run about 13% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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
31.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,501
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,654
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$683,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Snohomish’s median household income of $87,250, 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area’s figure2023112.7Bottom 9%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Everett, WA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2−0.5%4th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Everett, WA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+31.6%16th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Everett, WA Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+112.3%80th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.72024 ACS 5-Year5.9Bottom 5%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year55.4%14th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3002024 ACS 5-Year4,67488th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,146Bottom 15%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$3,272Bottom 15%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,501Bottom 15%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$3142024 ACS 5-Year$1,654Bottom 16%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$36,2782024 ACS 5-Year$683,90094th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3272024 ACS 5-Year$5,46191st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,4712024 ACS 5-Year$116,658Top 17%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.80%38th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.7%Bottom 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±212024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.7%37th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1282024 ACS 5-Year22179th 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

31/ 100
Ranks 3,566 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 grown 4% since 2020, reaching 10,534 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 19 units authorized in 2025, 90% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 8 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Snohomish County, which contains Snohomish, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $99,673, above the $94,341 of households that moved out.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
8
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 22% nationally
Year over year
−85%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202411k10k
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 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
38%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$99,673
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$94,341
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. King County, WA 17,266 people · 45% of arrivals
  2. Skagit County, WA 1,027 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  3. Pierce County, WA 1,016 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  4. Island County, WA 748 people · 2.0% of arrivals
  5. Whatcom County, WA 666 people · 1.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. King County, WA 11,026 people · 30% of departures
  2. Pierce County, WA 1,392 people · 3.8% of departures
  3. Skagit County, WA 1,203 people · 3.2% of departures
  4. Maricopa County, AZ 1,066 people · 2.9% of departures
  5. Island County, WA 948 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 Snohomish County, WA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202519119
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−57%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 72°F and January a low of 37°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, 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 EVERETT SNOHOMISH AP, 8.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year592024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals37°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals72°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
59
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

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

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and landslide, with earthquake alone responsible for 60% of it. Inland flooding and landslide are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

EarthquakeHigh
Heat waveModerate
Volcanic activityModerate
AvalancheModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, ice storm, inland flooding, winter weather, lightning, coastal flooding, cold wave, wildfire, tornado, hail, drought, strong wind, tsunami, 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
179
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,910
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.

Snohomish's police department reported 179 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,910.

Snohomish County records 1.9 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 11.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 27.6 per 100,000 residents in Snohomish County.

Homicide
1.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.1
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
27.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
18.9
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 Snohomish’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 Snohomish (Snohomish County) rather than Snohomish 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 29 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year90.5%Top 47%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle29 miBottom 29%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%Top 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI29 mi10,007 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA35 mi11,901 ft
Grant County IntlMWH139 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.

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Area Score
51
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—

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Other cities in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
SeattleKing County754,19561Seattle vs Snohomish
TacomaPierce County222,75851Tacoma vs Snohomish
BellevueKing County151,84763Bellevue vs Snohomish
KentKing County135,60344
EverettSnohomish County111,84550
RentonKing County105,31748
Federal WayKing County99,49342
KirklandKing County92,62162
AuburnKing County85,67647
RedmondKing County77,35367
MarysvilleSnohomish County73,00253
South HillPierce County68,02556

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 Snohomish side by side with a similar place.

Snohomish vs LynnwoodSnohomish vs Washougal

Moving to Snohomish 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.