City · Asotin County, Washington

Clarkston, Washington

Clarkston is a city in Asotin County, Washington, part of the Lewiston, ID-WA metro area. It has 7,191 residents. Clarkston, Washington has a quality-of-life score of 30 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,899 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Washington it ranks #345 of 395 cities and towns. It ranks best on preventable hospital stays (low), average commute time (low) and mental health providers (high). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), job growth (low) and suicide rate (high).

30Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,899 of 15,651 cities and towns
Washington: #345 of 395 in WA
Population: 7,191 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 3,497.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 5312630

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety50#7,893/15,637
Economy10#13,993/15,631
Housing60#6,019/14,977
Health26#11,529/15,609
Healthcare57#6,774/15,650
Environment26#11,444/15,453
Education18#12,812/15,649
Infrastructure61#6,179/15,650
Community41#9,161/15,651
Leisure & amenities42#9,061/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Clarkston, Washington ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Asotin County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Preventable hospital stays · low1,130 /100k
99/100Washington 1,865 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAsotin County value
Average commute time · low12.6 min
99/100Washington 26.6 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Mental health providers · high582 /100k
92/100Washington 568 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAsotin County value
Traffic deaths · low6.2 /100k
88/100Washington 9.1 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataAsotin County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Washington 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAsotin County value
High school diploma or higher · high93.2%
81/100Washington 92.3%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Weaknesses

Drought exposure · high100%
1/100Washington 54%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAsotin County value
Job growth · low-3.9%
4/100Washington -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataAsotin County value
Suicide rate · high26.8 /100k
6/100Washington 17.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateProvisional dataAsotin County value
Depression · high28.6%
10/100Washington 25.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Unemployment rate · high9.6%
11/100Washington 4.7%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Distance to an Amtrak station · high89 mi
12/100Washington 13 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAsotin County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Child poverty rateWorsening
18.7% (2015-2019) → 31.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
79.2% (2015-2019) → 90.3% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$40,186 (2015-2019) → $54,152 (2020-2024)
+35%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.6× (2015-2019) → 4.7× (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
89.5% (2015-2019) → 93.2% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.392 (2015-2019) → 0.451 (2020-2024)
+15%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Clarkston, Washington improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Broadband+11 points79.2% → 90.3%
Household income+35%$40,186 → $54,152

Declined2

Child poverty+13 points18.7% → 31.8%
Price / income+1.1×3.6× → 4.7×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Clarkston, Washington between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.1 min2015-2019	12.6 min2020-2024	−1.5 min	Within the margin of error	65%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.2%2015-2019	16.9%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Broadband subscriptions	79.2%2015-2019	90.3%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	65%
Child poverty rate	18.7%2015-2019	31.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Declined	9%
Effective property tax rate	0.93%2015-2019	0.74%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	56%
High school diploma or higher	89.5%2015-2019	93.2%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Home price to income ratio	3.6×2015-2019	4.7×2020-2024	+1.1×	Declined	18%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3922015-2019	0.4512020-2024	+0.059	Within the margin of error	13%
Median household income	$40,1862015-2019	$54,1522020-2024	+35%	Improved	65%
Poverty rate	18.5%2015-2019	20.7%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Rent as share of income	28.3%2015-2019	26.6%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Rent-burdened households	42.6%2015-2019	40.1%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	65%
Unemployment rate	8.6%2015-2019	9.6%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.2%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Clarkston, Washington five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Clarkston, Washington in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Clarkston, Washington itself moved +0.1 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,191 residents (±23)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,801 households (±166)

Clarkston, Washington
Washington share

Under $25k19%544
$25k–50k26%740
$50k–75k16%457

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,801 households (±166)

Clarkston, Washington
Washington share

Own55%1,546
Rent45%1,255

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,000 workers (±182)

Clarkston, Washington
Washington share

Drive alone80%2,402
Carpool7.9%†236
Public transit0.9%†

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Lewiston, ID-WA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Asotin County, the county holding most of Clarkston's residents.

Asotin County has 440 employer establishments, 196 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.76× Washington's), with 5,374 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,243. The Census Bureau also counts 1,121 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 440; 1,121 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 196; US 248 · Washington 258
Paid employees: 5,374
Average annual pay: $49,243; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Asotin County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	37	16.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	415	$57,133	57
Specialty trade contractors	36	16	1.03×About typical	275	$79,316	66
Restaurants and other eating places	33	14.7	0.80×Fewer than typical	587	$23,063	—
Construction of buildings	19	8.4	1.12×About typical	77	$39,312	32
Lessors of real estate	14	6.2	0.51×Fewer than typical	29	$40,379	127
Religious organizations	14	6.2	1.12×About typical	40	$20,900	—
Building equipment contractors	13	5.8	0.96×About typical	192	$95,906	8
Full-service restaurants	13	5.8	0.75×Fewer than typical	212	$26,863	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	12	5.3	1.06×About typical	32	$42,344	11
Banks and credit unions	11	4.9	1.51×More than typical	70	$60,886	—
Limited-service restaurants	11	4.9	0.61×Fewer than typical	267	$21,854	—
Offices of other health practitioners	11	4.9	0.80×About typical	62	$37,145	29

Rank places for an industry Open Asotin County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 22,492 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $75K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Clarkston, Washington: $10.42 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $75K; −20% vs FY2025
Per resident: $10.42; US $1,994
Sole-source: 5.2%; US 30%
Single offer: 66%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Departmental Offices$31.5K42%
Forest Service$19.3K26%
Department of the Army$10.5K14%
Department of Veterans Affairs$10.2K14%
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$3,1584.2%
Defense Information Systems Agency$2280.3%
U.S. Geological Survey$76.010.1%

Top recipients

LEADING EDGE AVIATION, LLC$50.8K68%
CENTRAL OPTICAL LABORATORIES, INC.$10.2K14%
KAZE PRODUCTS INC$6,7309.0%
JETCO MACHINE AND FABRICATION, LLC$3,1584.2%
TRIBALCO LLC$2,8373.8%

Spending by fiscal year

37.3KFY2017
50KFY2018
37.9KFY2019
64.5KFY2020
46.7KFY2021
39.8KFY2022
71.2KFY2023
105.3KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Support activities for forestry · 1153$31.5K42%
Nonscheduled air transportation · 4812$19.3K26%
Medical equipment and supplies manufacturing · 3391$10.2K14%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$7,2159.6%
Boiler, tank, and shipping container manufacturing · 3324$3,1584.2%
Wired and wireless telecommunications carriers · 5173$2,837

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Clarkston, Washington, so they do not add up across cities.

Clarkston, Washington's figures are part of those of Asotin County, WA ($6.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 1.2% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Clarkston is mostly in Asotin County.

See federal money in Asotin County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Clarkston, Washington is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Michael BaumgartnerR-WA-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.4%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Asotin County54100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lewiston, ID-WA51

Other cities and towns in Asotin County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/5312630

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends