Fords PrairieWA
A town of 1,823.
Is Fords Prairie a good place to live?
Fords Prairie’s best subject grade is a B+ for the outdoors; its weakest is a D for health. On health, just 4 of Washington’s 397 towns do worse. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. 11% of the land in Fords Prairie is conserved, above both Washington’s towns (4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Fords Prairie has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Fords Prairie has grown 14% from 2010 to 2020
1,959 counted in 2010 and 2,234 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Fords Prairie grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Fords Prairie is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Fords Prairie: who provides what
Fords Prairie is unincorporated, so Lewis 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 Fords Prairie.
Compared with most of Washington and the rest of the country, more of Fords Prairie’s adults report frequent physical distress
19% of adults report frequent physical distress in Fords Prairie, against 13% in Washington’s towns and 14% across U.S. towns. 27% of Fords Prairie adults say their health is fair or poor. Fords Prairie beats the Washington average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 25.
| Fords Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 71% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 17% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 9.8% | 12% |
| What stands out | Fords Prairie | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 75.1% | 70.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.8% | 9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Public schools in Fords Prairie fall behind 78% of Washington districts
Its public schools are run by the Centralia School District. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Centralia High School, with 941 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 941 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Very high risk in Fords Prairie, with earthquakes at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 82% of U.S. communities. Since 1990, 94 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Fords Prairie.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Fords Prairie has mild winters and pleasant summers
Fords Prairie has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Fords Prairie is 78°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents commute out of Fords Prairie
Most working residents leave Fords Prairie for work: only 2% work in town. Fords Prairie’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. Since 2013, Fords Prairie has added 545 jobs, to 1,061 in 2023.
| Fords Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 4.9% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Borst Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in Fords Prairie sells for about $275K
79% of households own their home in Fords Prairie.
| Fords Prairie | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,161 a month | $1,739 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park and 13 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fords Prairie. Close and well known come first.
36 mi MuseumFort Steilacoom
21 mi AttractionGospodor Monument Park3 mi GardenGeorge Washington Park
6 mi MuseumBurlington Northern Railroad Depot7 mi MuseumVeterans Memorial MuseumPhoto credits
Fort Steilacoom: Ben Cody, Public domain · Gospodor Monument Park: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Burlington Northern Railroad Depot: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
Everything we know about Fords Prairie
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Fords Prairie
About 8 of every 100 Fords Prairie residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
About Fords Prairie
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Fords Prairie is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,234 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 177 ft
- Area code
- 360
Fords Prairie’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Fords Prairie.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fords Prairie | — | — | C | — | C− | D |
| Centralia | #274 | D− | C | C− | C− | C |
| Grand Mound | #189 | C | C+ | — | B | B− |
Fords Prairie has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Fords Prairie and Grand Mound report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fords Prairie with a neighbor →
Questions about Fords Prairie
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Fords Prairie, WA expensive?
The typical home is worth about $368,000, 37% 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.