Wenatchee, Washington

Area Profile

35,484 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Wenatchee, in Chelan County.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 27% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 22% of 4,199 cities measured71
Schools3,693rd of 4,162 cities measured19
GrowthTop 26% of 4,224 cities measured62
Housing affordability2,515th of 4,218 cities measured62
Climate2,655th of 4,225 cities measured66
Physical resilience3,655th of 4,226 cities measured20
Access3,699th of 4,226 cities measured71
Economic stabilityTop 42% of 4,226 cities measured62
The quick read

Wenatchee ranks in the top 22% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $73,040.

In the public schools here, 38% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 265 units authorized over the past twelve months, 29% below 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

Population
35,484
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,040
Top 41% nationally
Density
3,335/sq mi
10.6 sq mi of land
Median age
35.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington
Nearest major airport
MWH
50 mi · Grant County Intl
Median home value
$433,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 89% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Unemployment has been falling for 5 consecutive months, most recently 3.2%.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 19,171 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsChelan County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$88,55770th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftChelan County, WA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$67,39638th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,4552024 ACS 5-Year$73,040Top 41%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,3202024 ACS 5-Year$39,053Top 35%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%Top 49%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.8 minTop 14%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Top 32%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.1%43rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202619,171Bottom 22%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.8%Top 22%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 47%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202619,80821st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.3%Top 34%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$64,240Bottom 29%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageWenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,290Bottom 35%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year2.8%92nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 32%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.8%46th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.52.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in July 2026. It has been falling for the last 5 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202473k60k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,040 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 — Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,690$36,450
Retail Salespersons1,620$37,700
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse1,610$40,680
Registered Nurses1,330$112,280
Cashiers1,240$36,550
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,120$47,730

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.

38% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.1 students for every full-time teacher across 15 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
18
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.1
across 15 of them
Math proficiency
38.1%
Bottom 14% in Washington
Reading proficiency
56.3%
Bottom 21% in Washington
The 12 largest of 18 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Wenatchee High SchoolWenatchee School District2,06622.536%65%
Abraham Lincoln ElementaryWenatchee School District60416.831%30%
Foothills Middle SchoolWenatchee School District56719.651%67%
Washington Elementary SchoolWenatchee School District55416.358%67%
Pioneer Middle SchoolWenatchee School District48816.833%56%
Mission View Elementary SchoolWenatchee School District48417.340%55%
John Newbery ElementaryWenatchee School District43716.243%52%
Lewis And Clark Elementary SchWenatchee School District42415.121%32%
Orchard Middle SchoolWenatchee School District39517.229%46%
Sunnyslope Elementary SchoolWenatchee School District29214.672%77%
Westside High SchoolWenatchee School District27917.45%45%
Pinnacles Prep Charter School · charterPinnacles Prep Charter School23413.0——

64.8% 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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 2% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 101.9, 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 Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area is up 34% over five years, but down 2.3% 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 $3,159 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.73% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,500, some 20% above the $1,248 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,500 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $60,000 a year, about 82% of the median household income here of $73,040.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,248 a month.

A median home at $433,700 costs 4.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $99,583, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
101.9

Prices here run about 2% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, 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
27.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,500
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,248
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$433,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Wenatchee’s median household income of $73,040, 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 Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2023101.9Top 49%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−2.3%1st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.5%24th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+108.9%74th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year4.4Bottom 13%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.8%12th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4012024 ACS 5-Year14,68296th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,143Top 33%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,063Top 45%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,500Top 41%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$812024 ACS 5-Year$1,248Bottom 30%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,4482024 ACS 5-Year$433,70085th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2312024 ACS 5-Year$3,15975th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,3502024 ACS 5-Year$99,583Top 28%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.73%31st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.8%Top 47%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±282024 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-Year2.9%26th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1662024 ACS 5-Year42288th 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

62/ 100
Top 26% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 35,401 in 2024.

70% of the 265 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Chelan County, which contains Wenatchee, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $88,557, above the $67,396 of households that moved out.

At 7.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
265
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.5
Top 18% nationally
Year over year
−29%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
69.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202436k35k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
30%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$88,557
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$67,396
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Douglas County, WA 1,218 people · 28% of arrivals
  2. King County, WA 508 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Snohomish County, WA 257 people · 6.0% of arrivals
  4. Grant County, WA 218 people · 5.1% of arrivals
  5. Spokane County, WA 110 people · 2.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Douglas County, WA 1,388 people · 33% of departures
  2. King County, WA 274 people · 6.6% of departures
  3. Grant County, WA 233 people · 5.6% of departures
  4. Snohomish County, WA 139 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. Spokane County, WA 120 people · 2.9% 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 Chelan County, WA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202555324
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+187%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 7.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 28, in the Good band, and about 5 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WENATCHEE PANGBORN AP, 6.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year622024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals7.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year282024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
28
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
62
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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

20 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it.

WildfireHigh
LandslideModerate
AvalancheElevated
Inland floodingHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate
HailModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, ice storm, drought, strong wind, tornado, tsunami, coastal flooding, 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
308
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,130
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.

Wenatchee's police department reported 308 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,130.

Chelan County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.1 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 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 31.3 per 100,000 residents in Chelan County.

Homicide
5.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
31.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
25.0
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 Wenatchee’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 Wenatchee (Chelan County) rather than Wenatchee 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

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Grant County Intl at 50 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year90.7%Top 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle50 miBottom 12%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%Top 45%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Grant County IntlMWH50 mi13,503 ft
Boeing Fld/King County IntlBFI92 mi10,007 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA93 mi11,901 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
52
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Other cities in Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
East WenatcheeDouglas County14,19949East Wenatchee vs Wenatchee

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 Wenatchee side by side with a similar place.

Wenatchee vs East WenatcheeWenatchee vs Mount Vernon

Moving to Wenatchee 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.

ZIP codes in Wenatchee

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Wenatchee with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9880145,426$81,488$461,20053