City profile · Washington · Census ACS 2023

Lake Tapps, WA

Lake Tapps's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

12,360
Residents
$145,250
Median income
$693,300
Median home
$1,472
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with Lake Tapps, WA - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Lake Tapps.

Place dossier plate

Sheet WA-LAKE-TAPPS-WA · Lake Tapps, WA 12,360 pop · income 93rd pct

POP-TOWN · INC-TOP · COL-ABOVE · SAFE-UNK · RANK-TOP · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-HIGH · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-TOWN 12,360
  • INC-TOP $145,250
  • COL-ABOVE 107.0
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-TOP 93rd
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Belfry
  • HOME-HIGH $693,300
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Belfry, KY ( $16 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Lake Tapps

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Lake Tapps on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Lake Tapps on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 12,360.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $145,250. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Lake Tapps - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Lake Tapps lands in the 93rd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

93rd
percentile, household income
93rd
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Lake Tapps, WA

Lake Tapps is a small town in Washington, home to 12,360 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $145,250 per year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.3%. Typical homes in Lake Tapps are valued around $693,300, and the median resident age is 42.4 years. About 41.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

The city is served by 3 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.

Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,472 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Washington's average monthly utility costs around $188 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 70.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Lake Tapps's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to schools and households to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Lake Tapps, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count. No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

What does the journey to work look like in Lake Tapps?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.

Compare commute patterns →

2. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Lake Tapps?

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.

The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

3. Schools and households

What does the education layer cover for Lake Tapps?

The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.

The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 41.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.

See how the family ranking is built →

4. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Lake Tapps?

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Within Washington, the closest population matches are Liberty Lake (12,435 residents, $105,599 income); East Renton Highlands (12,241 residents, $140,048 income); Gig Harbor (12,202 residents, $106,042 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Derby, CT (12,359 residents); Tehachapi, CA (12,366 residents); Patchogue, NY (12,368 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

12,360 residents

Small city (10k–49k)

Median Household Income

$145,250 /yr

Top-decile income · poverty 2.3% (Low poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

107.0 (US=100)

High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average

City profile score · Lake Tapps, WA

69/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Household income A+
$145,250

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Poverty rate A-
2.3%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Bachelor's+ share B+
41.4%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Cost of living F
107.0 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Lake Tapps profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Household income, Poverty rate, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living. Household incomePoverty rateBachelor's+ shareCost of living 69 B-
Lake Tapps profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Household income: 95/100 (A+) · $145,250
  • Poverty rate: 84/100 (A-) · 2.3%
  • Bachelor's+ share: 76/100 (B+) · 41.4%
  • Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index

How does Lake Tapps compare to other US cities?

Lake Tapps measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 93% higher than other cities
Home value 93% pricier than other cities
Median rent 70% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Lake Tapps against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Washington only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Washington-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Lake Tapps near the bottom of Washington's cities

Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Lake Tapps ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Lake Tapps only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#48 of 565
92nd percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#85 of 565
85th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#422 of 598
29th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#130 of 599
78th percentile in Washington
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Washington only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

93rdIncome percentile
Gauge source note

93rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Lake Tapps's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$693,300 7th percentile more affordable than 7% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Below this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Below this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Below this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Below this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). This entry sits in this band. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Lake Tapps $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Lake Tapps's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.8×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,508 of 15,516
More affordable than 19% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,502 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)

At 4.8×, Lake Tapps sits in the moderate band: national rank #12,508 of 15,516 and #2,502 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$145,250 Lake Tapps, WA median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Lake Tapps, WA Lake Tapps, WA's median household income ($145,250) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Lake Tapps, WA-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Lake Tapps, WA median $145,250/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Lake Tapps, WA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Lake Tapps, WA.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 41.4%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 2.3%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 63.5%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
12,360
Median Income
$145,250
Median Home Value
$693,300
Median Age
42.4
Poverty Rate
2.3%
Labor force participation
63.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.4%

Schools

Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Drive Alone
71.1%
Carpool
7.7%
Public Transit
2.6%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
17.7%
Other
0.9%

Based on 5,898 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Washington statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $188

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Washington at $188 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $55 ).

These are Washington statewide averages, not a meter reading for Lake Tapps. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Washington's BEA cost-of-living index is 107.0 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Lake Tapps is $1,472/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Washington statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 / 100 (High).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Washington statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Lake Tapps sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Lake Tapps compares to similar-size Washington cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Lake Tapps (this city) 12,360 $145,250
Liberty Lake 12,435 $105,599
East Renton Highlands 12,241 $140,048
Gig Harbor 12,202 $106,042
NCES CCD
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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