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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-SPOKANE-WA · Spokane, WA 229,228 pop · income 44th pct · 130 tracts
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 Spokane
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Spokane on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Baton Rouge · lowest
49,944
Baton Rouge · lowest
49,944 median HH income
28.3% of the leader · rank #1
Spokane · this city
65,745
Spokane · this city
65,745 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #2
Greenwood · near
65,745
Greenwood · near
65,745 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #3
Leakesville · near
65,745
Leakesville · near
65,745 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #4
Wellton Hills · near
65,750
Wellton Hills · near
65,750 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #5
Paauilo · near
65,750
Paauilo · near
65,750 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #6
Fremont · highest
176,350
Fremont · highest
176,350 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 Spokane 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: 229,228.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Spokane - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Spokane places in the 44th percentile for household income and the 3rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
44th
percentile, household income
69th
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
3rd
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: Spokane, WA
Washington's Spokane is a mid-sized U.S. city, with 229,228 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $65,745 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 8.4%. Typical homes in Spokane are valued around $326,200, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. About 32.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 58.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 1,321 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 214% from five years earlier. Spokane's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 5515.6 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, above the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Spokane's yearly average temperature at 48.6°F with 16.4 inches of precipitation per year and 45.4 inches of snowfall.
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. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,472 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Washington run around $188, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Spokane'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 climate and hazard context to comparison shortlist to population change to reported crime to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Spokane, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, matched public-school count, annual population history, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Spokane?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.3%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Spokane?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 8.4%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Spokane?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Tacoma (220,482 residents, $83,857 income); Vancouver (192,696 residents, $78,156 income); Bellevue (151,199 residents, $161,300 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Santa Clarita, CA (229,021 residents); Fremont, CA (228,518 residents); Richmond, VA (227,595 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.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 130 Census tracts to this city.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Spokane?
The NCES join finds 77 public schools within the city match. 32.6% 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 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.
Matched public schools
77
Bachelor's degree+
32.6%
Poverty estimate
8.4%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 48.6°F, with 16.4 inches of precipitation and 45.4 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Washington is 70.0 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Mean temperature
48.6°F
Annual precipitation
16.4 in
FEMA risk index (state avg)
70.0
NOAA Climate Normals and FEMA National Risk Index (state-averaged on PlainCities). Hazard context is not address-level.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,608 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 1,321 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
+0.7%
2025 estimate
230,783
2020 estimate
229,175
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Spokane?
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 5515.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 142% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
4840.8
Violent rate
674.9
Total reported rate
5515.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 8.4% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
F
City profile score · Spokane, WA
34/100
5 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.
Bachelor's+ share C+
32.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate D
8.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income D
$65,745
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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 F
675 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Spokane profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 62/100 (C+) · 32.6%
Poverty rate: 46/100 (D) · 8.4%
Household income: 43/100 (D) · $65,745
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Violent crime: 7/100 (F) · 675 /100k
Where Spokane sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Spokane'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 - Spokane highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Spokane, WA (this city): home $326,200, crime 5,516/100k
Santa Clarita, CA : home $721,000, crime 1,342/100k
Fremont, CA : home $1,289,400, crime 2,523/100k
Richmond, VA : home $328,100, crime 3,516/100k
Norfolk, VA : home $271,900, crime 4,242/100k
Tacoma, WA : home $454,600, crime 6,667/100k
Vancouver, WA : home $440,300, crime 3,990/100k
Bellevue, WA : home $1,203,100, crime 3,478/100k
Kent, WA : home $537,500, crime 4,261/100k
Everett, WA : home $532,300, crime 3,484/100k
Spokane Valley, WA : home $344,300, crime 3,758/100k
How does Spokane compare to other US cities?
Spokane measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income44% higher than other cities
Home value69% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety3% 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, Spokane ranks #148 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 Spokane 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 Spokane near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Spokane ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Spokane only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#413 of 565
27th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#377 of 565
33rd percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#201 of 598
66th percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#198 of 599
66th 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
44th percentile nationally for median household income · 3rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Spokane's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Spokane'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 Spokane's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$326,20031st percentilemore affordable than 31% 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
Spokane's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,820 of 15,516
More affordable than 17% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#67 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 5.0×, Spokane sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,820 of 15,516 and #67 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
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
$65,745Spokane, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Spokane, 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 Spokane, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)32.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)8.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)58.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
229,228
Median Income
$65,745
Median Home Value
$326,200
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
8.4%
Labor force participation
58.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
32.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
5515.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
674.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
4840.8
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
48.6°F
Annual Precipitation
16.4"
Annual Snowfall
45.4"
Schools
Total Schools
77
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Spokane's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
229,175 residents
2021
230,488 residents
2022
230,603 residents
2023
229,957 residents
2024
230,288 residents
2025
230,783 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
1,321
housing units authorized
Single-Family
320
detached homes
Multifamily
1,001
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
5.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
421
279
142
$90.4M
2020
539
332
207
$111.8M
2021
596
346
250
$120.5M
2022
578
320
258
$137.3M
2023
1,295
239
1,056
$265.9M
2024
1,321
320
1,001
$290.5M
Permit volume increased 214% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.3%
Carpool
9.5%
Public Transit
2.9%
Walk
3.7%
Work from Home
13.8%
Other
1.8%
Based on 107,418 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 Spokane. 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 Spokane 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 Spokane sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Spokane 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, NOAA Climate Normals, 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.