98501Tumwater, Washington

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 98501.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 26% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 4% of 6,210 published ZIP areas84
GrowthTop 8% of 5,428 published ZIP areas76
Housing affordability4482nd of 6,685 published ZIP areas68
Climate3666th of 6,789 published ZIP areas69
Physical resilience5031st of 6,709 published ZIP areas32
Access5601st of 6,791 published ZIP areas76
Economic stabilityTop 27% of 6,742 published ZIP areas72
The quick read

98501 ranks in the top 4% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.6% and median household income of $97,198.

298 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, heat wave and landslide.

At a glance

Population
48,067
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$97,198
Top 21% nationally
Density
1,377/sq mi
34.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Tumwater
Washington
Metro area
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
Nearest major airport
SEA
42 mi · Seattle-Tacoma Intl
Median home value
$529,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6% is lower than 83% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.8% over the past year, to 14,634 employed residents.

51% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,432$97,198Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,971$48,384Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate6.8%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.9 minBottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher51.0%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment14,634Bottom 10%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)3.2%Top 12%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.8%Top 14%June 2026
Labor force15,188Bottom 9%June 2026
Labor force participation64.9%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$75,470Top 23%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$61,960Top 10%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.7%Top 21%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.6%Bottom 17%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202497k84k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $97,198 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 — Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,910$36,110
General and Operations Managers3,670$122,210
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,370$44,060
Retail Salespersons3,180$37,350
Management Analysts2,770$88,790
Cashiers2,470$37,340

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Tumwater, WA, the city containing this ZIP code.

There are 19.3 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
19.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Olympia High SchoolOlympia School District1,90123.2
Tumwater High SchoolTumwater School District1,11721.5
Washington Middle SchoolOlympia School District70219.5
Peter G Schmidt ElementaryTumwater School District60615.2
East Olympia ElementaryTumwater School District57917.0
Centennial ElementaryOlympia School District43418.1
Pioneer Elementary SchoolOlympia School District38418.3
Olympia Regional Learning AcademyOlympia School District34513.3
McKenny ElementaryOlympia School District32216.9
Lincoln Elementary SchoolOlympia School District30017.6
Madison Elementary SchoolOlympia School District20318.5
Avanti High SchoolOlympia School District16718.6

28.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Washington’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,697 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.4 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
21.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,697
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$529,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income5.45Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.7%Bottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±75820,717Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$67$1,697Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,284$529,300Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.0%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.5%Bottom 20%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
76/ 100
Top 8% of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

65% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 11.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
298
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
11.1
Top 9% nationally
Year over year
−9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
65.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Tumwater, WA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 78°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 50.6 inches, including 3.9 inches of snow.

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

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station OLYMPIA AP, 1.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND8.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index44.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation50.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high78°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index26.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing25°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
26
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
44
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

32 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, heat wave and landslide.

LandslideModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Volcanic activityModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Thurston County records 4.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 16.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 31.8 per 100,000 residents in Thurston County.

Homicide
4.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.1
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
31.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
23.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Thurston County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 98501 rather than 98501 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 42 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA42 mi11,901 ft
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI47 mi10,007 ft
Portland IntlPDX97 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
67
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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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

98501 vs Tumwater

How this ZIP area compares with Tumwater as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

98501
Tumwater
Median household income
$97,198
vs
$95,212
Per capita income
$48,384
vs
$46,975
Population density
1,377/sq mi
vs
1,519/sq mi
Median home value
$529,300
vs
$472,200
Median gross rent
$1,697
vs
$1,779
Homeownership rate
61.7%
vs
62.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
51.0%
vs
42.9%
Poverty rate
6.8%
vs
7.0%
Median age
39.5
vs
37.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.