Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 2,526 residents, this town was settled in 1871. A regional job hub with 2,570 jobs.
A strong record with one exception. Its best grade is for incomes: the median household earns $123K. With a B overall, Brush Prairie sits 106th of 285 in Washington. Set against the rest, it does better than 56% of U.S. towns. It also does well on health: residents are healthier than 73% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The catch is cost of living (C−): the typical home is worth about $844K, 8.7 years of the Portland metro’s $97K median household income. Glenwood School is on the National Register of Historic Places. 13% of residents are under 18 here, below both the Washington town median (22%) and the median of U.S. towns (22%).
Figures: incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Brush Prairie beats most towns.
Where Brush Prairie’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Brush Prairie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,650 in 1990, 2,749 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2020 and 7 maps from 1897 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Brush Prairie. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi MountainMount St. Helens
15 mi Stadium & arenaModa Center
23 mi WaterfallMultnomah Falls
16 mi Stadium & arenaProvidence Park
15 mi City parkForest Park
16 mi MuseumPittock MansionMount St. Helens: U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region, Public domain · Moda Center: Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Multnomah Falls: John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Providence Park: Pdx.rollingthunder, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Forest Park: EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pittock Mansion: PittockBack.jpg: Cacophony derivative work: Tiptoety talk, CC BY-SA 3.0
Brush Prairie is unincorporated, so Clark 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Brush Prairie.
Brush Prairie draws workers from Vancouver and beyond and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Washington; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Washington.
2,570 jobs are based in Brush Prairie, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.8 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington.
The share of residents in Brush Prairie who live below the poverty line: 3.3%. Most working residents leave Brush Prairie for work: only 4% work in town. The average trip to work for Brush Prairie comes to 18 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 10 miles.
| Brush Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $123,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.3% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.1% | 5% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The largest public high school is Summit View High School, with 319 students. Of its 5 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. Its public schools are run by the Battle Ground School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurin Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 745 | – |
| Summit View High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 319 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
At 8.7 years of the Portland metro’s $97K median household income, the typical home (about $845K) costs more against local pay than in 92% of Washington towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
Among households in Brush Prairie, 85% are owner-occupiers. The town’s midpoint rent comes in at $1,682 a month.
| Brush Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,682 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Washington it is less healthy than 56% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar. Against the 5,328 U.S. towns with household incomes like Brush Prairie’s, it is less healthy than 63%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
In Brush Prairie, 72% of adults had a checkup this year. This Washington town beats the Washington average on 10 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Brush Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 71% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 26% | 23% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Brush Prairie | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.7% | 8.4% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 10.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In 1 park or preserve, walkers have 3.6 miles of trail. Lauretta Norene Forest Preserve, at 30 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Brush Prairie’s concentration of trails stands at 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Brush Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.3% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lauretta Norene Forest Preserve | 1 mi | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
One declared disaster, in 2006, has brought federal aid to Brush Prairie households. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in three fifths of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 45% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 33% to earthquakes.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5 within 15 miles of the center of Brush Prairie
About 4 of every 100 Brush Prairie residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
3 notable people were born in Brush Prairie.
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Brush Prairie is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,738 at the 2020 census, up from 2,384 at the 2000 census. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Brush Prairie ranks 57th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked. The area is mostly covered by Battle Ground Public Schools, with a small part going to Hockinson School District.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Brush Prairie.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Battle Ground (B) is closest.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brush Prairie | #106 | B | C− | — | B− | B+ |
| Meadow Glade | — | — | D | — | B− | A− |
| Battle Ground | #99 | B | C− | B | B− | B |
| Barberton | #94 | B | C− | — | B− | A− |
| Hockinson | #41 | B+ | D | — | A | A− |
Meadow Glade has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Brush Prairie, Meadow Glade, Barberton and Hockinson report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Brush Prairie with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Brush Prairie grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #106 of 285 in Washington. It grades B+ for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Grant Sitton and Gerry Staley.
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