City · Klickitat County, Washington

White Salmon, Washington

White Salmon is a city in Klickitat County, Washington. It has 2,548 residents. White Salmon, Washington has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,671 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Washington it ranks #166 of 395 cities and towns. It ranks best on preventable hospital stays (low), physical inactivity (low) and time spent in the emergency room (low). It ranks worst on job growth (low), flu vaccinations (low) and natural hazard risk (high).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,671 of 15,651 cities and towns
Washington: #166 of 395 in WA
Population: 2,548 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,627.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 5378330

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety54#7,194/15,637
Economy70#4,661/15,631
Housing58#6,297/14,977
Health69#4,765/15,609
Healthcare30#10,939/15,650
Environment77#3,630/15,453
Education45#8,568/15,649
Infrastructure52#7,491/15,650
Community45#8,670/15,651
Leisure & amenities87#2,038/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where White Salmon, Washington ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Klickitat 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 · low1,587 /100k
95/100Washington 1,865 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKlickitat County value
Physical inactivity · low15.1%
95/100Washington 19.0%United States 26.5%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Time spent in the emergency room · low104 min
95/100Washington 156 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesKlickitat County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Washington 3.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataKlickitat County value
Poverty rate · low3.5%
90/100Washington 10.0%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Adult smoking · low9.2%
89/100Washington 12.2%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-4.7%
2/100Washington -0.2%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataKlickitat County value
Flu vaccinations · low23.0%
2/100Washington 43.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKlickitat County value
Natural hazard risk · high97.5
3/100Washington 63.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyKlickitat County value
Home price to income ratio · high8.4×
4/100Washington 5.8×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100Washington 5.6United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationKlickitat County value
Child care cost burden · high40.8%
7/100Washington 36.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteKlickitat County value

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
55.2% (2015-2019) → 31.9% (2020-2024)
−23 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
13.3 min (2015-2019) → 26.8 min (2020-2024)
+102%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
81.7% (2015-2019) → 91.2% (2020-2024)
+9.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
6.1× (2015-2019) → 8.4× (2020-2024)
+38%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Median household incomeImproving
$55,652 (2015-2019) → $72,923 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
31.8% (2015-2019) → 26.9% (2020-2024)
−4.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, White Salmon, Washington improved on 1 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 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+9.5 points81.7% → 91.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of White Salmon, Washington between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.3 min2015-2019	26.8 min2020-2024	+13.5 min	Within the margin of error	1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	47.0%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Broadband subscriptions	81.7%2015-2019	91.2%2020-2024	+9.5 points	Improved	57%
Effective property tax rate	0.70%2015-2019	0.52%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	54%
High school diploma or higher	87.9%2015-2019	92.5%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Home price to income ratio	6.1×2015-2019	8.4×2020-2024	+2.3×	Within the margin of error	2%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4242015-2019	0.4912020-2024	+0.067	Within the margin of error	11%
Median household income	$55,6522015-2019	$72,9232020-2024	+31%	Within the margin of error	58%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	31.8%2015-2019	26.9%2020-2024	−4.9 points	Within the margin of error	82%

“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 White Salmon, Washington five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of White Salmon, 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, White Salmon, Washington itself moved −4 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,548 residents (±16)

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

1,240 households (±145)

White Salmon, Washington
Washington share

Under $25k12%†153
$25k–50k18%†229
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,240 households (±145)

White Salmon, Washington
Washington share

Own75%930
Rent25%†310

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+14.6 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,108 workers (±241)

White Salmon, Washington
Washington share

Drive alone64%711
Carpool0.0%0
Public transit0.0%0

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 Klickitat County, the county holding most of White Salmon's residents.

Klickitat County has 585 employer establishments, 248 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 0.96× Washington's), with 4,247 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,905. The Census Bureau also counts 1,936 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 585; 1,936 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 248; US 248 · Washington 258
Paid employees: 4,247
Average annual pay: $54,905; US $68,342

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

Construction of buildings	52	22	2.91×More than typical	134	$36,604	97
Specialty trade contractors	49	20.8	1.34×More than typical	142	$49,092	94
Restaurants and other eating places	40	16.9	0.92×About typical	310	$29,977	5
Ambulatory health care services	23	9.7	0.47×Fewer than typical	121	$70,512	92
Full-service restaurants	21	8.9	1.16×About typical	207	$29,333	—
Lessors of real estate	20	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	27	$45,074	212
Other specialty trade contractors	19	8	3.21×More than typical	56	$53,893	44
Truck transportation	19	8	1.59×More than typical	33	$60,667	37
Religious organizations	17	7.2	1.30×More than typical	54	$15,370	—
Management, scientific and technical consulting	15	6.4	0.95×About typical	33	$85,758	94
Accounting, tax preparation and payroll services	14	5.9	1.46×More than typical	30	$26,100	33
Architectural, engineering and related services	14	5.9	1.70×More than typical	100	$89,590	28

Rank places for an industry Open Klickitat County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 23,613 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 White Salmon, 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

TURNSTONE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS, INC.$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

1.4KFY2017
43.4KFY2018
7KFY2019
3.5KFY2020
3.4KFY2021
1.9KFY2023
3KFY2024
0FY2025
0FY2026

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 White Salmon, Washington, so they do not add up across cities.

White Salmon, Washington's figures are part of those of Klickitat County, WA ($6.5M 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: White Salmon is mostly in Klickitat County.

See federal money in Klickitat 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.

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

House

Dan NewhouseR-WA-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 95%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.

Klickitat County61100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Klickitat 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/5378330

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends