BethelWA
A town of 4,394.
Is Bethel a good place to live?
Bethel grades B overall, ranked 83rd of 285 in Washington, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is healthier than 78% of U.S. towns. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 74% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Only 29 of Washington’s 395 towns score higher on cost of living. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Bethel, above both the Washington town median (7.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On the outdoors, just 23 of Washington’s 397 towns do worse.
98% of working residents leave Bethel for work
Where Bethel’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Bethel grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Bethel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Space Needle and 134 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bethel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
15 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
Big draw27 mi National ParkOlympic National Park3.6M visitors a year
15 mi Ancient siteSeattle UndergroundPhoto credits
Space Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Climate Pledge Arena: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lumen Field: "Smart Destinations", GoSeattleCard.com, and Go Seattle Card Blog, CC BY-SA 2.0 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Olympic National Park: Wsiegmund, CC BY 2.5 · Seattle Underground: Mark Hursh, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Bethel: who provides what
Bethel is unincorporated, so Kitsap County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Bethel.
Bethel has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Seattle and beyond.
For health, Bethel earns an A−
72% of Bethel adults had a checkup this year. Bethel beats the Washington average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 17% of Bethel adults get no exercise outside work.
| Bethel | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 71% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 16% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | Bethel | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6% | 9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Bethel’s schools rank ahead of 68% of Washington districts
Its public schools are run by the South Kitsap School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Creek Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 439 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents commute out of Bethel
Bethel has 319 jobs for its 1,473 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Bethel for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Bethel has added 61 jobs, to 319 in 2023. The top destinations are Seattle (13%), Bremerton (11%) and Port Orchard (9%).
| Bethel | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $80,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Earthquakes leads a high hazard risk in Bethel
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bethel has mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons average 76.4°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.9°.
Bethel has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Bethel is 76°F. About 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Bethel | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 76°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 36°F | 35°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median home in Bethel sells for about $667K
88% of households own their home in Bethel.
| Bethel | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 88% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,170 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Bethel
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Bethel
About 6 of every 100 Bethel residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
About Bethel
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Bethel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. Located a few miles south of the city of Port Orchard, Bethel is a wooded residential area. Most residents commute to Port Orchard or nearby cities. It was first designated a place by the Census Bureau in the 2010 census, at which time its population was 3,713. By the 2020 census, the population increased to 4,073.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 315 ft
- Area code
- 360
Bethel’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Bethel.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | #83 | B | B | — | B+ | A− |
| Port Orchard | #181 | C | D | C− | B+ | B+ |
Bethel reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Bethel with a neighbor →
Questions about Bethel
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Bethel, WA a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Bethel grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #83 of 285 in Washington. It grades A− for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Bethel, WA expensive?
The typical home is worth about $474,000, 19% below the Washington typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.