Walla Walla, Washington
Area Profile
33,925 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Walla Walla, in Walla Walla County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 16 sourcesUnemployment is 3.7% and median household income $66,748, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.
In the public schools here, 39% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.3 students for every teacher.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 195 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 39% on the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 74% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Unemployment has been falling for 5 consecutive months, most recently 3.7%.
Employment grew 2.1% over the past year, to 15,310 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsWalla Walla County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $89,836 | 74th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftWalla Walla County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $61,617 | 26th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$5,4922024 ACS 5-Year | $66,748 | Top 50%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,0952024 ACS 5-Year | $35,638 | Top 44%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 14.2% | Bottom 37%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 14.1 min | Top 5%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 27.6% | Top 35%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 67.4% | 22nd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 15,310 | Bottom 14%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | −0.1% | Top 47%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +2.1% | Top 7%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 15,906 | 14th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 69.8% | Bottom 26%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageWalla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $66,060 | Bottom 35%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageWalla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $53,100 | Top 42%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.5% | 79th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.9% | Top 15%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 3.7% | Top 26%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 13.3% | 72nd percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Walla Walla, WA
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 1,160 | $47,700 |
| Registered Nurses | 810 | $116,970 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 800 | $35,020 |
| Retail Salespersons | 640 | $36,620 |
| Cashiers | 490 | $35,930 |
| Office Clerks, General | 440 | $48,310 |
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.
39% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 17.3 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walla Walla High School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 1,554 | 20.7 | 35% | 59% |
| Pioneer Middle School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 601 | 19.4 | 36% | 47% |
| Garrison Middle School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 546 | 17.6 | 42% | 55% |
| Green Park Elementary School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 526 | 15.5 | 37% | 39% |
| College Place High School | College Place School District | 486 | 18.0 | 37% | 77% |
| Edison Elementary School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 464 | 16.0 | 37% | 37% |
| Prospect Point Elementary | Walla Walla Public Schools | 414 | 14.8 | 62% | 63% |
| Sharpstein Elementary School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 340 | 13.1 | 39% | 43% |
| Berney Elementary School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 324 | 14.1 | 50% | 50% |
| Lincoln High School | Walla Walla Public Schools | 186 | 15.5 | 5% | 35% |
| Head Start | Walla Walla Public Schools | 112 | — | — | — |
| Walla Walla Center for Children and Families | Walla Walla Public Schools | 108 | 108.0 | — | — |
66.1% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 97.9, 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 Walla Walla, WA Metro Area is up 33% over five years, and up 1.2% 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 $3,183 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.81% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,550, some 17% above the $1,323 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,550 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $62,000 a year, about 93% of the median household income here of $66,748.
The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,323 a month.
A median home at $393,600 costs 4.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $87,177, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.
Prices here run about 2% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Walla Walla, 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.
The figures above are measured against Walla Walla’s median household income of $66,748, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Walla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2023 | 97.9 | Top 36%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Walla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +1.2% | 24th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Walla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +33.1% | 22nd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Walla Walla, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +107.0% | 72nd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year | 4.5 | Bottom 12%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 57.1% | 16th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3212024 ACS 5-Year | 14,237 | 96th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $1,181 | Top 36%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $2,118 | Top 48%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,550 | Top 43%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$1372024 ACS 5-Year | $1,323 | Bottom 26%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$17,4242024 ACS 5-Year | $393,600 | 82nd percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$2632024 ACS 5-Year | $3,183 | 75th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$6,0932024 ACS 5-Year | $87,177 | Top 39%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.81% | 38th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 33.0% | Bottom 27%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±1022024 ACS 5-Year | 154 | 92nd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.1% | 62nd percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.0% | 50th percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±2752024 ACS 5-Year | 1,153 | 95th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 33,901 in 2024.
Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 101 units authorized in 2025, 34% below the prior year.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Walla Walla County, which contains Walla Walla, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $89,836, above the $61,617 of households that moved out.
At 5.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Umatilla County, OR 285 people · 12% of arrivals
- Benton County, WA 244 people · 10.0% of arrivals
- King County, WA 170 people · 7.0% of arrivals
- Franklin County, WA 159 people · 6.5% of arrivals
- Spokane County, WA 100 people · 4.1% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Benton County, WA 281 people · 11% of departures
- Umatilla County, OR 236 people · 9.4% of departures
- Franklin County, WA 171 people · 6.8% of departures
- Spokane County, WA 102 people · 4.1% of departures
- King County, WA 96 people · 3.8% 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 Walla Walla County, WA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 31°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 18.7 inches, including 6.5 inches of snow.
Air quality measures a median index of 24, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| 90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year | 54 | 2024 calendar year |
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 18.7" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals | 6.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 31°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 90°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year | 0 | 2024 calendar year |
| Median air quality index2024 calendar year | 24 | 2024 calendar year |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 41°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Air quality
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
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 49% of it.
Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, winter weather, hail, strong wind, lightning, drought, tornado, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, 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.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Walla Walla's police department reported 402 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,636.
Walla Walla County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.2 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 about 14.1 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 Walla Walla County.
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 Walla Walla’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 Walla Walla (Walla Walla County) rather than Walla Walla 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
1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Grant County Intl at 92 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 85.9% | Bottom 34%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 92 mi | Bottom 2%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 1 | Bottom 1%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.9% | Bottom 47%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant County Intl | MWH | 92 mi | 13,503 ft |
| Spokane Intl | GEG | 114 mi | 8,199 ft |
| Boise Air Trml/Gowen Fld | BOI | 202 mi | 10,000 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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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Climate | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System Daily Air Quality Index by county | 2024 calendar year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 Walla Walla
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Walla Walla with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Walla Walla closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99362 | 42,853 | $72,474 | $429,600 | — |