Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Mercer Island: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Washington. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Evergreen State.
Sammamish in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $157,271 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 2.4%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Washington share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2013-2017 American Community Survey for the 118 places in Washington with more than 5,000 people.
- Sammamish (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Snoqualmie (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Mercer Island (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Bainbridge Island (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Normandy Park (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Ridgefield (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Brier (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Duvall (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Woodinville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Newcastle (Photos | Homes For Sale)
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Washington.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Washington:
How We Determined The Richest Places In Washington For 2019
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2013-2017 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 118 places with more than 5,000 people in Washington, we ranked each place from 1 to 118 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Sammamish, crowned the “Richest City In Washington For 2019”.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 118 places.
/10
Population: 62,877
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $157,271
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 2.4%
More on Sammamish: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Sammamish /smæ.m/ is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,773 in a 2016 census estimate. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east.
/10
Population: 12,944
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $136,508
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 1.3%
More on Snoqualmie: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Snoqualmie (/snokwlmi/ snoh-KWOHL-mee) is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington. It is twenty-five miles east of Seattle. This city is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was 13,190 in a 2016 census estimate.
/10
Population: 24,768
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $136,644
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Mercer Island: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle Metropolitan Area, with Seattle located to its west and Bellevue located to its east.
/10
Population: 23,689
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $109,341
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.8%
More on Bainbridge Island: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Bainbridge Island is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, and is coextensive with the eponymous island in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County.
/10
Population: 6,634
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $95,313
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Normandy Park: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Normandy Park is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,335 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 6,637
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $93,958
Unemployment Rate: 2.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.4%
More on Ridgefield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Ridgefield is a city in the pastoral, rolling-hills countryside of northern Clark County, Washington, in the United States. The population was 4,763 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 6,697
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $111,346
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 5.9%
More on Brier: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Brier is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is bordered by Mountlake Terrace to the west, Lynnwood to the north, Bothell to the east, and the Lake Forest Park to the south. The population was 6,087 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 7,683
Rank Last Year: 22 (Up 14)
Median Income: $151,612
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.2%
More on Duvall: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Duvall is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on SR 203, halfway between Monroe and Carnation. The population consists of 7,674 people as of 2015.
/10
Population: 11,675
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 5)
Median Income: $102,006
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Woodinville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,938 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King (Cottage Lake) and Snohomish (Maltby) counties. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, sweeping winery and brewery grounds, and densely wooded residential areas.
/10
Population: 11,346
Rank Last Year: 9 (Down 1)
Median Income: $118,333
Unemployment Rate: 4.4%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Newcastle: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Newcastle is an Eastside city in King County, Washington, United States. Its population was 10,380 at the 2010 census.
There You Have It – The Wealthiest Places In Washington For 2019
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Washington, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Washington.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Washington, according to data:
Poorest: Cheney
2nd Poorest: Pullman
3rd Poorest: Wapato
For more Washington reading, check out:
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Washington
- 10 Safest Places In Washington
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Washington
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Washington
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sammamish | 4.5 |
| 2 | Snoqualmie | 5.17 |
| 3 | Mercer Island | 8.83 |
| 4 | Bainbridge Island | 9.0 |
| 5 | Normandy Park | 9.5 |
| 6 | Ridgefield | 10.0 |
| 7 | Brier | 10.0 |
| 8 | Duvall | 11.17 |
| 9 | Woodinville | 11.17 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 12.5 |
| 11 | Redmond | 13.83 |
| 12 | Mill Creek | 15.5 |
| 13 | Edgewood | 15.83 |
| 14 | Covington | 17.83 |
| 15 | Kirkland | 20.5 |
| 16 | Bellevue | 21.17 |
| 17 | Lake Forest Park | 21.33 |
| 18 | Kenmore | 21.83 |
| 19 | Edmonds | 23.67 |
| 20 | Camas | 24.83 |
| 21 | Mukilteo | 25.0 |
| 22 | Issaquah | 25.33 |
| 23 | Lake Stevens | 28.5 |
| 24 | Lynden | 29.0 |
| 25 | Bonney Lake | 31.33 |
| 26 | Bothell | 32.0 |
| 27 | Maple Valley | 32.83 |
| 28 | Shoreline | 34.0 |
| 29 | Washougal | 34.17 |
| 30 | Milton | 35.17 |
| 31 | Mountlake Terrace | 35.83 |
| 32 | Richland | 37.0 |
| 33 | Renton | 38.33 |
| 34 | Seattle | 38.83 |
| 35 | Selah | 42.17 |
| 36 | West Richland | 43.83 |
| 37 | Steilacoom | 44.17 |
| 38 | Battle Ground | 44.33 |
| 39 | Anacortes | 44.5 |
| 40 | Arlington | 45.33 |
| 41 | Prosser | 45.67 |
| 42 | Stanwood | 46.0 |
| 43 | Poulsbo | 47.0 |
| 44 | Monroe | 48.67 |
| 45 | Marysville | 48.83 |
| 46 | Orting | 51.5 |
| 47 | Gig Harbor | 51.83 |
| 48 | Pacific | 51.83 |
| 49 | Woodland | 54.0 |
| 50 | Liberty Lake | 54.33 |
| 51 | Puyallup | 54.5 |
| 52 | Tumwater | 54.67 |
| 53 | North Bend | 54.67 |
| 54 | Dupont | 55.17 |
| 55 | Port Orchard | 55.17 |
| 56 | Blaine | 55.5 |
| 57 | Lynnwood | 57.33 |
| 58 | Snohomish | 58.17 |
| 59 | Des Moines | 58.17 |
| 60 | Lacey | 59.0 |
| 61 | Federal Way | 59.17 |
| 62 | Enumclaw | 59.83 |
| 63 | Ephrata | 60.17 |
| 64 | University Place | 60.33 |
| 65 | Sumner | 61.17 |
| 66 | Auburn | 62.17 |
| 67 | East Wenatchee | 62.83 |
| 68 | Wenatchee | 63.0 |
| 69 | Moses Lake | 65.67 |
| 70 | Kent | 67.17 |
| 71 | Pasco | 68.17 |
| 72 | Spokane Valley | 69.0 |
| 73 | Port Townsend | 69.0 |
| 74 | Burien | 69.83 |
| 75 | Seatac | 71.0 |
| 76 | Othello | 73.5 |
| 77 | Fircrest | 74.0 |
| 78 | College Place | 74.17 |
| 79 | Fife | 74.83 |
| 80 | Ferndale | 75.33 |
| 81 | Vancouver | 75.67 |
| 82 | Kennewick | 79.0 |
| 83 | Airway Heights | 79.17 |
| 84 | Tacoma | 79.5 |
| 85 | Ellensburg | 79.83 |
| 86 | Yelm | 80.5 |
| 87 | Mount Vernon | 81.83 |
| 88 | Everett | 82.0 |
| 89 | Oak Harbor | 82.83 |
| 90 | Connell | 84.17 |
| 91 | Olympia | 85.5 |
| 92 | Spokane | 87.83 |
| 93 | Ocean Shores | 88.33 |
| 94 | Bremerton | 89.0 |
| 95 | Walla Walla | 90.67 |
| 96 | Bellingham | 92.17 |
| 97 | Burlington | 92.17 |
| 98 | Quincy | 92.17 |
| 99 | Tukwila | 93.83 |
| 100 | Union Gap | 96.17 |
