CITIES BY STATE

Your comparison of popular Washington retirement cities is provided below. Use the drop down box to make another state comparison.

blank	Bellingham	Olympia	Vancouver	Port Townsend	Wenatchee	99-City Avg
Washington Cities
City Type
City Type	West Coast, Mountains, National Parks	Lakes & Rivers, Mountains, State Capital	Mountains, Lakes & Rivers	West Coast, Mountains, National Parks	Lakes & Rivers, Mountains, Wine Country	na
Population (2007)
Population (Current)	77,503	44,925	161,436	9,069	29,810	64,621
Population (1990)	52,179	33,840	46,380	7,001	21,756	45,518
Land Area (sq mi)	26	17	43	7	7	31
Persons Per Square Mile	2,981	2,643	3,754	1,296	4,259	2,035
Home Prices
2009	$308,138	$269,483	$221,462	$423,000	$223,389	$322,000
Total Appreciation ('01 to '09)	97.7%	70.6%	23.6%	31.9%	42.2%	18.0%
Annual Appreciation ('08 to '09)	-2.9%	-7.9%	-19.2%	0.0%	-8.6%	-12.0%
Avg Annual Appreciation ('01 to '09)	8.9%	6.9%	2.7%	7.2%	7.3%	2.1%
Big City Prices ('09)	$322,000	$322,000	$245,000	$322,000	$158,000	$220,000
Affordability Index	96%	84%	90%	131%	141%	145%
Big City	Seattle	Seattle	Portland	Seattle	Yakima	na
Cost of Living (2009)
Cost of Living	116%	107%	96%	142%	96%	121%
Air Quality - Annual Avg (2001-2007)
Good Days	96%	86%	79%	93%	85%	79%
Moderate Days	4%	14%	20%	7%	14%	19%
Unhealthy for Sensitive Persons Days	0%	1%	1%	0%	0%	2%
Unhealthy Days	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	1%
Water Quality (2002-2006)
Good	na	na	18%	na	na	40%
Threatened	na	na	0%	na	na	4%
Impaired	na	na	82%	na	na	56%
Nearest Large City
Distance to Nearest City	89 miles	60 miles	9 miles	55 miles	148 miles	97 miles
City	Seattle	Seattle	Portland	Seattle	Seattle	na
Recreation
National Parks	7	5	2	7	4	7
National Campgrounds	30	29	52	41	59	26
State Parks	7	9	25	18	9	11
Medical Care (2009)
Accredited Hospitals	1	3	13	1	2	4
Building Permits (single family homes)
2008	71	55	181	105	44	185
2007	192	97	420	212	91	319
Gain ('00 to '08)	-65.5%	-53.4%	-78.1%	-46.2%	-2.2%	-55.5%

blank	Bellingham	Olympia	Vancouver	Port Townsend	Wenatchee	99-City Avg
Population Distribution (2006)
Median Age (yrs)	35	36	35	47	34	36
White	88.4%	85.3%	83.4%	93.3%	80.9%	83.3%
Black or African American	0.9%	1.9%	2.4%	0.6%	0.4%	6.9%
Native American Indian and Alaska Native	1.6%	1.3%	0.8%	1.2%	1.1%	0.8%
Asian	5.8%	5.8%	5.0%	1.3%	0.9%	3.2%
Native Hawaiian	0.0%	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
Other Race	0.9%	1.7%	4.3%	0.9%	14.0%	3.3%
Multiple Races	2.4%	3.8%	3.8%	2.5%	2.5%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	6.1%	4.4%	9.3%	2.3%	21.5%	8.7%
Income and Housing (2005)
Family Income	$47,196	$54,136	$47,277	$47,027	$45,982	$55,423
Occupied Housing	95%	95%	96%	92%	94%	86%
Vacant Housing	5%	5%	4%	8%	6%	14%
Home Ownership	48%	50%	53%	na	58%	54%
Persons Per Family	2.83	2.88	3.10	2.70	3.20	2.91
Taxes (2008)
Local and State	8.9%	8.9%	8.9%	8.9%	8.9%	9.3%
Local, State and Federal	119 days	119 days	119 days	119 days	119 days	112 days
Climate - Average Temperatures (1971-2000)
Climate Type	Temperate & Humid	Temperate & Humid	Temperate & Humid	Temperate & Dry	Cool & Dry	Temperate & Humid
January Low Temp	35 F	32 F	32 F	38 F	23 F	27 F
July High Temp	73 F	76 F	77 F	70 F	88 F	86 F
Annual Precipitation	35 in	51 in	42 in	19 in	9 in	35 in
Elevation	15 ft	206 ft	210 ft	100 ft	640 ft	1,660 ft
Natural Hazard Risk
Total Hazard Risk	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Higher	Moderate
Earthquake	30%	50%	15%	45%	10%	.6%
Tsunami	No Risk	No Risk	Risk	Risk	No Risk	No Risk
Hurricane	0	0	0	0	0	0
Flood	Very High	Very High	Very High	Very High	Low	Very High
Tornado	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Very Low	Low
Volcano	High Ash Fall	High Ash Fall	High Volcanic	Low Ash Fall	High Ash Fall	No Risk
Wildfire	Low	Low	Low	Low	High	Low
Crimes per 10,000 Population - Annual Avg (2001-2008)
Violent Crimes	24	31	40	19	36	42
Property Crimes	702	550	478	447	594	454
Home Energy Use - Annual Avg (1971-2000)
Heating Degree Days	4,980	5,531	4,990	5,124	5,533	4,677
Cooling Degree Days	68	97	197	40	832	1,249
blank	Bellingham	Olympia	Vancouver	Port Townsend	Wenatchee	99-City Avg