Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
College Place's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, ranked 171st of 285 in Washington. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $404K, 5.4 years of the Walla Walla metro’s $74K median household income. College Place’s average trip to work is 13 minutes, against 27 minutes in Washington’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. College Place is home to Walla Walla University. College Place's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 94% of U.S. towns.
Where College Place beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far College Place is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,272 in 1940, 9,902 in 2020. The archive holds 5 maps from 1919 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in College Place, and how to reach them.
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 College Place.
College Place is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of Washington.
The average commute for its 3,383 working residents takes 13.2 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington. Jobs based here grew from 1,614 in 2013 to 2,145.
Most working residents leave College Place for work: only 13% work in town. College Place’s median household income is $62,000. Since 2013, College Place has added 531 jobs, to 2,145 in 2023.
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $62,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 11% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the College Place School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is College Place High School, with 486 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davis ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 698 | – |
| College Place High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 486 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Against the 9,379 U.S. towns with household incomes like College Place’s, it is healthier than 95%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Washington it is healthier than 50% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
College Place beats the Washington average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 28% of College Place adults sleep under 7 hours.
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | College Place | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults without reliable transportation | 9% | 7.2% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 11.6% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults getting cholesterol checked | 79.6% | 84% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical College Place home is worth about $404,000, about the same as a year ago, 31% below the Washington typical home. The median rent in College Place is $1,186 a month.
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,186 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 35 to 64 are 27% of residents (38% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 31% of residents (24% statewide). 21% of residents are 65 or older in College Place. 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across Washington.
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.3 years | 38.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 30% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women.
| College Place | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 21.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.9% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.1% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.7% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.4% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.1% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 15% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.4% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.1% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.6% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.8% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Only 7 of the 285 Washington towns we compare have a higher July high than College Place. College Place has mild winters and warm summers, with very little rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in College Place since 1983.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Washington, it does better than 70% of towns.
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15.1 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| College Place | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lions City Park | — | 8 |
| 2. Kiwanis Park | — | 7 |
| 3. Veterans Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of College Place
College town 19 of every 100 College Place residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
8,765 counted in 2010 and 9,902 in 2020; an estimated 9,923 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 13% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
City in Washington, United States
College Place is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It neighbors the larger city of Walla Walla, and had a population of 10,090 per Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) population estimates. College Place is the home of Walla Walla University (formerly Walla Walla College, thus the city's name), a Seventh-day Adventist Church operated liberal arts university. The City has a quaint downtown primarily centered along College Avenue from Rose Street to 13th Street. It is anchored by small businesses such as Happy Wanderer, Andy's Market, Enable Art, and Rogers Bakery. Many businesses downtown are owned by Seventh-Day Adventist owners so they close two hour…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with College Place.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| College Place | #171 | C+ | C− | B− | B− | B+ |
| Garrett | — | — | B− | — | B− | B |
| Walla Walla | #239 | C− | D | C− | B− | B |
Garrett has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Garrett reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare College Place with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
College Place grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #171 of 285 in Washington. It grades B+ for health, B− for safety and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Within Washington, it does better than 70% of towns.
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−.