Elk PlainWA
A town of 14,276.
Is Elk Plain a good place to live?
Elk Plain grades C− overall, ranked 231st of 285 in Washington, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $107K. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $474K, 4.1 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. Elk Plain’s average trip to work is 37 minutes, above both Washington’s towns (27 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). On walkability, just 28 of Washington’s 396 towns do worse.
99% of working residents leave Elk Plain for work
Where Elk Plain’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Elk Plain grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Elk Plain is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Space Needle and 81 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Elk Plain. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
14 mi Stadium & arenaTacoma Dome
18 mi National ParkMount Rainier National Park1.6M visitors a year
38 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
39 mi Ancient siteSeattle UndergroundPhoto credits
Space Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lumen Field: "Smart Destinations", GoSeattleCard.com, and Go Seattle Card Blog, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tacoma Dome: Broran28, Public domain · Mount Rainier National Park: Ricardo Martins from Gent, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seattle Underground: Mark Hursh, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Elk Plain: who provides what
Elk Plain is unincorporated, so Pierce 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 Elk Plain.
Elk Plain has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns, sends most of its workers to Tacoma and beyond and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Washington.
Most working residents commute out of Elk Plain
Elk Plain has 1,018 jobs for its 6,250 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 36.5 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington.
Most working residents leave Elk Plain for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Elk Plain grew to 1,018 in 2023, 230 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Tacoma (15%), Seattle (9%) and Puyallup (5%).
| Elk Plain | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $107,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 5% | 8% |
| Work from home | 11% | 15% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Elk Plain’s public schools trail 57% of Washington districts
Its public schools are run by the Bethel School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 661 | – |
| Bethel High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,688 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
| Elk Plain | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Upper Muck Creek Protected Area | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Elk Plain has four seasons and pleasant summers
July afternoons average 77.2°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.1°.
Elk Plain has mild winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Elk Plain is 77°F. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Elk Plain | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 35°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Elk Plain faces a moderate natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On CDC estimates, Elk Plain is healthier than 50% of U.S. towns
Within Washington it is less healthy than 82% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar. Against the 7,570 U.S. towns with household incomes like Elk Plain’s, it is less healthy than 79%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Elk Plain beats the Washington average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 70% of Elk Plain adults had a checkup this year.
| Elk Plain | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Elk Plain | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 13.5% | 10.1% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.5% | 5.1% |
| More adults with obesity | 38.6% | 30.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Elk Plain sell for about $572K
Elk Plain’s median rent is $2,172 a month.
| Elk Plain | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,172 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 84% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Elk Plain
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Elk Plain
About 4 of every 100 Elk Plain residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
Elk Plain’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Elk Plain.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Graham (C) is closest.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Plain | #231 | C− | C− | — | C+ | B− |
| Graham | #194 | C | C− | — | C+ | B |
| South Creek | — | — | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Spanaway | #180 | C | C | — | C+ | C+ |
| Frederickson | #178 | C | C− | — | C+ | B |
South Creek has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Elk Plain, Graham, South Creek, Spanaway and Frederickson report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Elk Plain with a neighbor →
Questions about Elk Plain
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Elk Plain, WA a good place to live?
Elk Plain grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #231 of 285 in Washington. It grades B− for health and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Elk Plain, WA expensive?
Yes. 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 C−.