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Place dossier plate
SheetWA-TUKWILA-WA · Tukwila, WA 21,479 pop · income 62nd 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 Tukwila
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Tukwila on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Florida Ridge · lowest
64,956
Florida Ridge · lowest
64,956 median HH income
40.5% of the leader · rank #1
Pioneer · near
80,526
Pioneer · near
80,526 median HH income
50.2% of the leader · rank #2
Tukwila · this city
80,534
Tukwila · this city
80,534 median HH income
50.2% of the leader · rank #3
Hopkinton · near
80,536
Hopkinton · near
80,536 median HH income
50.2% of the leader · rank #4
Richfield · near
80,536
Richfield · near
80,536 median HH income
50.2% of the leader · rank #5
Cleves · near
80,536
Cleves · near
80,536 median HH income
50.2% of the leader · rank #6
Rose Hill CDP… · highest
160,426
Rose Hill CDP… · highest
160,426 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 Tukwila 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: 21,479.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Tukwila - the verdict
Tukwila ranks in the 62nd percentile for household income and the 0th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
62nd
percentile, household income
82nd
percentile, home value
70th
percentile, median rent
0th
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: Tukwila, WA
21,479 people live in Tukwila, Washington - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Tukwila households earn a median of $80,534 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.6%. Typical homes in Tukwila are valued around $462,800, and the median resident age is 35.0 years. Educational attainment runs 23.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 292 residential building permits were authorized in Tukwila (Building Boom), up 1360% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Tukwila's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 16170.6 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).
Washington carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Washington scores 107.0 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,472 per month. 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 Tukwila'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 schools and households to reported crime to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Tukwila, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits.
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.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Tukwila?
The NCES join finds 5 public schools within the city match. 23.9% 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 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Tukwila?
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 16170.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 609% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Which cities make useful reference points for Tukwila?
Within Washington, the closest population matches are Five Corners (21,444 residents, $102,423 income); Mountlake Terrace (21,419 residents, $101,404 income); Mukilteo (21,312 residents, $122,612 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Rose Hill CDP (Fairfax County), VA (21,484 residents); North Ogden, UT (21,473 residents); Rocky River, OH (21,490 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 does the journey to work look like in Tukwila?
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 66.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Population change
Is Tukwila 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 +257 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 292 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
+1.2%
2025 estimate
22,003
2020 estimate
21,746
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Tukwila?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.6%, 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
$80,534
Home value
$462,800
Value / income
5.7×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Above median income · poverty 7.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
107.0 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Washington average
F
City profile score · Tukwila, WA
35/100
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.
Household income C+
$80,534
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
7.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share D
23.9%
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 F
927 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Tukwila profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Household income: 60/100 (C+) · $80,534
Poverty rate: 49/100 (D) · 7.6%
Bachelor's+ share: 46/100 (D) · 23.9%
Cost of living: 15/100 (F) · 107.0 index
Violent crime: 0/100 (F) · 927 /100k
Where Tukwila sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Tukwila'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 - Tukwila highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Tukwila, WA (this city): home $462,800, crime 16,171/100k
North Ogden, UT : home $443,100, crime 574/100k
Rocky River, OH : home $327,600, crime 442/100k
Helena, AL : home $292,700, crime 507/100k
Pleasant Prairie, WI : home $336,300, crime 1,392/100k
Mountlake Terrace, WA : home $606,100, crime 2,385/100k
Mukilteo, WA : home $830,000, crime 1,823/100k
Battle Ground, WA : home $452,000, crime 1,115/100k
How does Tukwila compare to other US cities?
Tukwila measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income62% higher than other cities
Home value82% pricier than other cities
Median rent70% pricier than other cities
Safety0% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Washington and the picture shifts: Tukwila ranks #156 of 156 Washington cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Tukwila 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 Tukwila near the bottom of Washington's cities
Among the 599 Washington cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Tukwila ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Tukwila only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#310 of 565
45th percentile in Washington
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 599
0th percentile in Washington
Median Home Value
#234 of 565
59th percentile in Washington
Poverty Rate
#233 of 598
61st percentile in Washington
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#326 of 599
45th 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
62nd percentile nationally for median household income · 0th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Tukwila's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Tukwila'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 Tukwila's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$462,80018th percentilemore affordable than 18% 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
Tukwila's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,862 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,899 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 5.7×, Tukwila sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,862 of 15,516 and #2,899 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
$80,534Tukwila, WA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Tukwila, 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 Tukwila, WA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)23.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
21,479
Median Income
$80,534
Median Home Value
$462,800
Median Age
35.0
Poverty Rate
7.6%
Labor force participation
67.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.9%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
16170.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
926.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
15243.9
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
5
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Tukwila's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
21,746 residents
2021
21,409 residents
2022
21,144 residents
2023
21,184 residents
2024
21,432 residents
2025
22,003 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
292
housing units authorized
Single-Family
20
detached homes
Multifamily
272
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
13.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
20
20
0
$8.2M
2020
129
26
103
$23.4M
2021
15
15
0
$7.6M
2022
25
25
0
$9.3M
2023
315
30
285
$54.3M
2024
292
20
272
$77.2M
Permit volume increased 1360% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
66.8%
Carpool
9.1%
Public Transit
9.2%
Walk
0.1%
Work from Home
12.1%
Other
2.7%
Based on 11,561 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 Tukwila. 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 Tukwila 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 Tukwila sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Tukwila 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.