Poorest Cities In Washington For 2023


We used science and data to determine which places in Washington are basically dead broke.

Washington brings to mind images of Olympia, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.

However, like all states, Washington has certain places that are going on hard times. These Washington places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the poorest places in Washington.

To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 120 places in Washington with more than 5,000 people.

Here are the ten poorest places in Washington for 2023:

  1. Cheney
  2. Pullman
  3. Sunnyside
  4. Ellensburg
  5. Centralia
  6. Union Gap
  7. Aberdeen
  8. Hoquiam
  9. Clarkston
  10. Shelton

Again, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

What’s the poorst city in Washington? According to the facts, Cheney is the poorest place in Washington for 2023.

Rich people more your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places in Washington or the most dangerous.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the poorest states in America or the poorest cities in America.

For more Washington reading, check out:

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Washington.

The 10 Poorest Cities In Washington For 2023

1. Cheney

Cheney, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Washington thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 12,743 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Washington and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 12,743
Rank Last Year: 2 (Up 1)
Median Income: $42,275 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.0% (3rd highest)
Poverty Rate: 34.2% (highest)
More on Cheney:  Data | Photos

Cheney, WA

2. Pullman

The second poorest city in Washington is Pullman.

The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 11th highest in the Evergreen State.

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 32,968
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 1)
Median Income: $31,992 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.9% (11th highest)
Poverty Rate: 33.6% (2nd highest)
More on Pullman:  Data | Photos

Pullman, WA

3. Sunnyside

Placing as the third poorest city, Sunnyside’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 18.562651275367717% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Evergreen State.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 16,343
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $43,750 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 12.7% (highest)
Poverty Rate: 18.6% (12th highest)
More on Sunnyside:  Data | Photos

Sunnyside, WA

4. Ellensburg

Ellensburg ranks as the fourth poorest place in Washington.

The town ranks as having the 9th lowest median household income and the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 19,215
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $47,407 (9th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.4% (5th highest)
Poverty Rate: 22.7% (5th highest)
More on Ellensburg:  Data | Photos

Ellensburg, WA

5. Centralia

The fifth poorest city in Washington is Centralia.

The city ranks as having the 6th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 7th highest in Washington.

Still not the best news for Centralia.

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 17,988
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 3)
Median Income: $43,860 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.1% (17th highest)
Poverty Rate: 22.1% (7th highest)
More on Centralia:  Data | Photos

Centralia, WA

6. Union Gap

Union Gap ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Evergreen State.

It ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and the 10th highest unemployment rate.

Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 6,499
Rank Last Year: 14 (Up 8)
Median Income: $52,552 (15th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 9.1% (10th highest)
Poverty Rate: 22.3% (6th highest)
More on Union Gap:  Data | Photos

Union Gap, WA

7. Aberdeen

Aberdeen places as the seventh poorest city in Washington.

The city of over 16,842 ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 16,842
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $43,836 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.1% (25th highest)
Poverty Rate: 25.2% (3rd highest)
More on Aberdeen:  Data | Photos

Aberdeen, WA

8. Hoquiam

Hoquiam ranks as the eighth poorest city in Washington.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 6th highest in the state.

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 8,700
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 7)
Median Income: $44,840 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.0% (6th highest)
Poverty Rate: 16.1% (19th highest)
More on Hoquiam:  Data | Photos

Hoquiam, WA

9. Clarkston

Clarkston couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Washington; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 7th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Clarkston ranks as having the 16th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Washington.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,164
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 4)
Median Income: $44,717 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 8.4% (13th highest)
Poverty Rate: 16.9% (16th highest)
More on Clarkston:  Data | Photos

Clarkston, WA

Source: Public domain

10. Shelton

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Washington is Shelton.

The city of 10,288 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Evergreen State.

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 10,288
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 1)
Median Income: $48,000 (10th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.8% (28th highest)
Poverty Rate: 24.5% (4th highest)
More on Shelton:  Data | Photos

Shelton, WA

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Washington for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
  • Unemployment Rate

The “median household income adjusted for the cost of living” attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.

The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.

After we collected the data for all 120 places with more than 5,000 people in Washington, we ranked each place from 1 to 120 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Cheney, crowned the “Poorest Place In Washington For 2023”.

Summary: The Poorest Places In Washington For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Washington, according to data:

    Richest: Snoqualmie
    2nd Richest: Sammamish
    3rd Richest: Duvall

For more Washington reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Washington

Rank City Population Poverty Rate
1 Cheney 12,743 34.2%
2 Pullman 32,968 33.6%
3 Sunnyside 16,343 18.6%
4 Ellensburg 19,215 22.7%
5 Centralia 17,988 22.1%
6 Union Gap 6,499 22.3%
7 Aberdeen 16,842 25.2%
8 Hoquiam 8,700 16.1%
9 Clarkston 7,164 16.9%
10 Shelton 10,288 24.5%
11 Othello 8,470 21.8%
12 Prosser 6,061 18.6%
13 Port Townsend 10,002 14.9%
14 Yakima 96,266 17.6%
15 Kelso 12,566 21.1%
16 Toppenish 8,843 16.1%
17 Chehalis 7,427 13.4%
18 Airway Heights 10,108 17.9%
19 Spokane 225,709 15.6%
20 Sequim 7,896 14.4%
21 Walla Walla 33,765 13.5%
22 Bellingham 90,545 19.7%
23 College Place 9,739 10.3%
24 Bremerton 43,345 14.6%
25 Port Angeles 19,888 11.5%
26 Burlington 9,220 14.3%
27 Longview 37,542 13.7%
28 Grandview 10,894 14.2%
29 Lakewood 62,972 13.6%
30 Olympia 54,579 14.0%
31 Pasco 76,398 15.4%
32 Blaine 5,773 11.5%
33 Des Moines 32,631 11.3%
34 Mount Vernon 34,824 16.5%
35 Tukwila 21,545 12.4%
36 Oak Harbor 24,267 8.6%
37 Seatac 30,867 10.7%
38 Vancouver 188,331 12.7%
39 Spokane Valley 102,178 10.6%
40 Washougal 16,664 14.0%
41 Kent 134,890 11.3%
42 Kennewick 83,082 14.1%
43 Tacoma 217,332 12.5%
44 Federal Way 99,792 11.3%
45 Quincy 7,630 18.3%
46 Lynnwood 38,812 15.6%
47 Burien 51,646 11.7%
48 Snohomish 10,091 7.2%
49 Tumwater 24,855 8.5%
50 Woodland 6,368 7.4%
51 Sedro-Woolley 12,266 12.7%
52 Lacey 52,572 9.6%
53 Everett 110,438 11.0%
54 Ocean Shores 6,637 10.4%
55 Fife 10,869 12.8%
56 Ephrata 8,348 7.2%
57 Moses Lake 24,764 10.2%
58 Wenatchee 35,086 13.3%
59 East Wenatchee 14,113 10.9%
60 Poulsbo 11,652 10.9%
61 Auburn 85,306 9.6%
62 Puyallup 42,366 6.6%
63 Lynden 15,410 6.9%
64 Sumner 10,545 6.5%
65 Milton 8,501 8.8%
66 Ferndale 14,777 11.3%
67 Port Orchard 15,315 10.2%
68 Selah 8,081 8.0%
69 Richland 59,718 8.1%
70 Enumclaw 12,544 7.7%
71 Fircrest 7,109 5.6%
72 Orting 8,781 6.9%
73 Anacortes 17,437 8.3%
74 Liberty Lake 11,647 3.6%
75 Yelm 10,205 6.0%
76 Seattle 726,054 10.0%
77 University Place 34,565 7.6%
78 Renton 105,313 7.9%
79 Sultan 5,208 2.5%
80 Shoreline 58,213 8.4%
81 Lake Stevens 35,135 5.4%
82 Marysville 69,957 6.1%
83 Maple Valley 27,643 4.6%
84 Battle Ground 20,536 6.4%
85 Pacific 7,130 6.4%
86 North Bend 7,393 12.5%
87 Arlington 19,832 6.9%
88 Kirkland 91,656 6.8%
89 Ridgefield 10,432 3.1%
90 Monroe 19,879 7.6%
91 Steilacoom 6,673 7.7%
92 Mountlake Terrace 21,210 6.4%
93 Normandy Park 6,716 5.7%
94 Edmonds 42,622 4.4%
95 Dupont 9,974 3.0%
96 West Richland 15,988 5.8%
97 Kenmore 23,556 6.1%
98 Bothell 47,355 4.5%
99 Bellevue 149,365 6.9%
100 Newcastle 12,855 3.6%