City · Grays Harbor County, Washington

Elma, Washington

Elma is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, part of the Aberdeen, WA metro area. It has 3,483 residents. Elma, Washington has a quality-of-life score of 39 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,583 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Washington it ranks #312 of 395 cities and towns. It ranks best on median Air Quality Index (low), grocery stores (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), mammography screening (low) and child care cost burden (high).

39Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,583 of 15,651 cities and towns
Washington: #312 of 395 in WA
Population: 3,483 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,260.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 5321450

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.

Safety52#7,475/15,637
Economy50#7,839/15,631
Housing47#8,010/14,977
Health13#13,606/15,609
Healthcare25#11,683/15,650
Environment99#78/15,453
Education18#12,869/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,384/15,650
Community28#11,294/15,651
Leisure & amenities75#3,973/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Elma, Washington ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Grays Harbor 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

Median Air Quality Index · low22
97/100Washington 382025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGrays Harbor County value
Grocery stores · high3.6 /10k
97/100Washington 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGrays Harbor County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low4.9 µg/m³
96/100Washington 8.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyGrays Harbor County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Washington 3.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGrays Harbor County value
Hot days · low2 days
93/100Washington 13 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGrays Harbor County value
Mental health providers · high532 /100k
90/100Washington 568 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrays Harbor County value

Weaknesses

Drug overdose deaths · high42.7 /100k
3/100Washington 32.7 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGrays Harbor County value
Mammography screening · low31.0%
3/100Washington 41.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrays Harbor County value
Child care cost burden · high43.2%
3/100Washington 36.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrays Harbor County value
Depression · high29.4%
7/100Washington 25.5%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Suicide rate · high25.9 /100k
8/100Washington 17.0 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataGrays Harbor County value
Reading scores · low2.68
8/100Washington 2.98United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrays Harbor County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,277 (2015-2019) → 3,483 (2020-2024)
+6.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
0.9 /1k (2021) → 2.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+224%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
5.5% (2015-2019) → 47.1% (2020-2024)
+42 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.4% (2015-2019) → 89.7% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$46,228 (2015-2019) → $78,086 (2020-2024)
+69%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
56.0% (2015-2019) → 43.9% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Elma, Washington improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved1

Broadband+14 points75.4% → 89.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Elma, Washington between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.9 min2015-2019	30.9 min2020-2024	+7.1 min	Within the margin of error	5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.1%2015-2019	21.3%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Broadband subscriptions	75.4%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	77%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.64%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
High school diploma or higher	86.8%2015-2019	79.8%2020-2024	−7.1 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Home price to income ratio	3.6×2015-2019	5.2×2020-2024	+1.6×	Within the margin of error	7%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4762015-2019	0.4082020-2024	−0.068	Within the margin of error	90%
Median household income	$46,2282015-2019	$78,0862020-2024	+69%	Within the margin of error	94%
Poverty rate	13.2%2015-2019	24.9%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	3%
Rent as share of income	31.5%2015-2019	27.4%2020-2024	−4.1 points	Within the margin of error	79%
Rent-burdened households	56.0%2015-2019	43.9%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	86%

“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 Elma, Washington five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Elma, 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, Elma, Washington itself moved +10.9 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

3,483 residents (±15)

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

1,245 households (±207)

Elma, Washington
Washington share

Under $25k18%†227
$25k–50k13%†157
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,245 households (±207)

Elma, Washington
Washington share

Own67%830
Rent33%415

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+20.0 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,518 workers (±384)

Elma, Washington
Washington share

Drive alone70%1,063
Carpool14%†205
Public transit1.3%†

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 Aberdeen, 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 Grays Harbor County, the county holding most of Elma's residents.

Grays Harbor County has 1,558 employer establishments, 201 for every 10,000 residents (0.81× the US rate of 248; 0.78× Washington's), with 15,927 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,392. The Census Bureau also counts 3,832 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,558; 3,832 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 201; US 248 · Washington 258
Paid employees: 15,927
Average annual pay: $50,392; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	150	19.3	1.05×About typical	1,707	$26,866	18
Ambulatory health care services	99	12.8	0.61×Fewer than typical	748	$68,140	130
Construction of buildings	94	12.1	1.60×More than typical	400	$51,345	134
Specialty trade contractors	84	10.8	0.70×Fewer than typical	638	$78,674	178
Lessors of real estate	75	9.7	0.78×Fewer than typical	368	$34,109	404
Full-service restaurants	68	8.8	1.14×About typical	834	$30,313	12
Grocery and convenience stores	45	5.8	1.95×More than typical	628	$32,928	9
Religious organizations	43	5.5	1.00×About typical	183	$22,328	—
Limited-service restaurants	42	5.4	0.67×Fewer than typical	562	$25,486	4
Snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars	40	5.2	2.04×More than typical	311	$20,119	—
Traveler accommodation	40	5.2	2.86×More than typical	418	$29,696	24
Offices of other health practitioners	38	4.9	0.81×About typical	145	$45,600	72

Rank places for an industry Open Grays Harbor County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 77,582 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Elma, Washington: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

11FY2017
605.1FY2018
21.9FY2019
719.4FY2021
0FY2022

What was bought

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 Elma, Washington, so they do not add up across cities.

Elma, Washington's figures are part of those of Grays Harbor County, WA ($66.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

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

See federal money in Grays Harbor 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.

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

House

Emily RandallD-WA-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 3.0%

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.

Grays Harbor County48100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Aberdeen, WA44

Other cities and towns in Grays Harbor 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/5321450

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends