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.
Place dossier plate
SheetWA-MOUNTLAKE-TERRACE-WA · Mountlake Terrace, WA 21,419 pop · income 79th pct
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 Mountlake Terrace
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Mountlake Terrace on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Mount Pleasant · lowest
39,924
Mount Pleasant · lowest
39,924 median HH income
21.0% of the leader · rank #1
Englewood · near
101,398
Englewood · near
101,398 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #2
Mountlake Ter… · this city
101,404
Mountlake Ter… · this city
101,404 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #3
Upland · near
101,407
Upland · near
101,407 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #4
Golden Triang… · near
101,411
Golden Triang… · near
101,411 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #5
Hampden · near
101,417
Hampden · near
101,417 median HH income
53.4% of the leader · rank #6
Granite Bay · highest
190,000
Granite Bay · highest
190,000 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Mountlake Terrace on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 21,419.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Mountlake Terrace - the verdict
Nationally, Mountlake Terrace sits in the 79th percentile for household income and the 25th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
79th
percentile, household income
89th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
25th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Mountlake Terrace, WA
Washington's Mountlake Terrace is a small city, with 21,419 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Mountlake Terrace brings in $101,404 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 4.5%. Typical homes in Mountlake Terrace are valued around $606,100, and the median resident age is 38.2 years. 41.9% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 21 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 30% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2384.8 crimes per 100,000 residents, near the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Washington at 107.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Above Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,472 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $188 across Washington, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 24.0 minutes, with 61.9% driving alone and 22.6% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.0 out of 100 (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Mountlake Terrace'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 schools and households to comparison shortlist to reported crime to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Mountlake Terrace, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, matched public-school count, local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Mountlake Terrace?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 61.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 24.0 minutes.
What does the education layer cover for Mountlake Terrace?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 41.9% 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.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Which cities make useful reference points for Mountlake Terrace?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Five Corners (21,444 residents, $102,423 income); Tukwila (21,479 residents, $80,534 income); Mukilteo (21,312 residents, $122,612 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mount Pleasant, MI (21,420 residents); Ashland, KY (21,405 residents); New Hope, MN (21,402 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.
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Mountlake Terrace?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2384.8 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 5% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Mountlake Terrace?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 6.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.5%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Household income
$101,404
Home value
$606,100
Value / income
6.0×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Is Mountlake Terrace growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +4,146 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +19.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 21 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+19.5%
2025 estimate
25,430
2020 estimate
21,284
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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 B+
$101,404
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share B+
41.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate B-
4.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime D
195 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Mountlake Terrace profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 77/100 (B+) · $101,404
Bachelor's+ share: 77/100 (B+) · 41.9%
Poverty rate: 69/100 (B-) · 4.5%
Violent crime: 48/100 (D) · 195 /100k
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Where Mountlake Terrace sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Mountlake Terrace's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Mountlake Terrace highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Mountlake Terrace, WA (this city): home $606,100, crime 2,385/100k
Mount Pleasant, MI : home $168,700, crime 1,453/100k
Ashland, KY : home $125,300, crime 2,703/100k
New Hope, MN : home $314,600, crime 2,131/100k
Secaucus, NJ : home $557,800, crime 3,788/100k
Helena, AL : home $292,700, crime 507/100k
Tukwila, WA : home $462,800, crime 16,171/100k
Mukilteo, WA : home $830,000, crime 1,823/100k
Battle Ground, WA : home $452,000, crime 1,115/100k
How does Mountlake Terrace compare to other US cities?
Where Mountlake Terrace sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income79% higher than other cities
Home value89% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety25% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Washington alone, Mountlake Terrace ranks #95 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Mountlake Terrace 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 Mountlake Terrace near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Mountlake Terrace ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Mountlake Terrace only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#183 of 565
68th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#128 of 565
77th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#341 of 598
42nd percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#126 of 599
79th 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.
Gauge source note
79th percentile nationally for median household income · 25th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Mountlake Terrace's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Mountlake Terrace's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Mountlake Terrace's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$606,10011th percentilemore affordable than 11% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
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
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#14,083 of 15,516
More affordable than 9% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,959 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 6.0×, Mountlake Terrace sits in the pressured band:
national rank #14,083 of 15,516 and #2,959 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
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
$101,404Mountlake Terrace, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Mountlake Terrace, 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 Mountlake Terrace, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)41.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
21,419
Median Income
$101,404
Median Home Value
$606,100
Median Age
38.2
Poverty Rate
4.5%
Labor force participation
64.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
41.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2384.8
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
194.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2190.3
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Mountlake Terrace's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
21,284 residents
2021
22,324 residents
2022
22,855 residents
2023
23,702 residents
2024
25,087 residents
2025
25,430 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
21
housing units authorized
Single-Family
21
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
30
30
0
$9.1M
2020
193
25
168
$32.5M
2021
127
100
27
$35.7M
2022
35
35
0
$8.1M
2023
52
52
0
$10.7M
2024
21
21
0
$5.5M
Permit volume decreased 30% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
24.0 minutes
Drive Alone
61.9%
Carpool
8.7%
Public Transit
4.2%
Walk
0.9%
Work from Home
22.6%
Other
1.7%
Based on 11,506 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 Mountlake Terrace. 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 Mountlake Terrace 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 Mountlake Terrace sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Mountlake Terrace 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.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, 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.