Lake ShoreWA
The town has 6,978 residents and lies in Washington.
Is Lake Shore a good place to live?
The picture is mixed. With a B− overall, Lake Shore is better than 54% of U.S. towns and ranks 111th of 285 in Washington. Where it does best is health (A): it is healthier than 88% of U.S. towns. Incomes are a strength too: the median household earns $131K. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $566K, 5.8 years of the Portland metro’s $97K median household income. Only 26 of Washington’s 397 towns score lower on history. On hazard risk, just 38 of Washington’s 397 towns do better. This Washington town is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
What makes Lake Shore stand out
Where Lake Shore beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Lake Shore for work
Where Lake Shore’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Lake Shore grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Lake Shore is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moda Center and 159 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Shore. Close and well known come first.
11 mi Stadium & arenaModa Center
12 mi Stadium & arenaProvidence Park
29 mi WaterfallMultnomah Falls
9 mi City parkForest Park
12 mi MuseumPittock Mansion
11 mi Stadium & arenaVeterans Memorial ColiseumPhoto credits
Moda Center: Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Providence Park: Pdx.rollingthunder, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Multnomah Falls: John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Forest Park: EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pittock Mansion: PittockBack.jpg: Cacophony derivative work: Tiptoety talk, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Veterans Memorial Coliseum: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Lake Shore: who provides what
Lake Shore 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Shore.
Lake Shore carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Washington (mostly earthquakes), sends many workers across the state line to Portland and has less food insecurity than most of Washington.
Lake Shore earns an A for health
Its widest gap with Washington is food insecurity: 5.9% of its 5,559 adults worry about having enough food, against 10.2% statewide. Against the 4,460 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Shore’s, it is healthier than 64%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Lake Shore, 16% report frequent mental distress. In Lake Shore, 29% of adults sleep under 7 hours, below both Washington’s towns (33%) and U.S. towns (36%). On the CDC’s 31 measures, Lake Shore is ahead of Washington on 12 and behind on 2. Two figures for adults in the town: 8.8% smoke cigarettes, 72% had a checkup this year.
| Lake Shore | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 71% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 5.9% | 10% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lake Shore | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.9% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.4% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lake Shore’s public schools trail 64% of Washington districts
The Vancouver School District runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Lee Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 568 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
About one in three of Lake Shore’s working residents commute to Vancouver
21% of working residents cross a state line to work, Portland among the top destinations. Lake Shore has 379 jobs for its 3,016 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Only 1% of working residents stay in Lake Shore for work; the rest commute out. In Lake Shore, 3% of residents live below the poverty line, below both the Washington town median (7.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs in Lake Shore grew by 166 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 379. The mean commuting time in the town is 28 minutes.
| Lake Shore | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $131,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 5% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Conserved land covers 1% of Lake Shore
Count the trails in 3 parks and preserves and they come to 1.1 miles. Lake Shore’s density of trails is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Lake Shore | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1% | 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. Sorenson Park | 0.5 mi | 5 |
| 2. Jack Z. Fazio Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 3. Jason Lee Middle School Park | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Fewer young adults than Washington overall
The share of residents in Lake Shore who are 65 or older: 20%. Adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide). The age of the median resident for Lake Shore comes to 45.7 years. 39% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across Washington.
| Lake Shore | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 45.7 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 30% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.6 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women.
| Lake Shore | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.1% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.4% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.6% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.6% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.3% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.9% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.2% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Lake Shore: mild winters and pleasant summers
In July, afternoons reach 81°; in January, nights fall to 35°, and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lake Shore faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 87% of Washington towns, with expected losses of about $467 per resident a year; that rating is what its B for hazard risk is built on.
For Lake Shore, the FEMA risk score is 37 of 100. FEMA puts 40% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to earthquakes, and 37% to inland flooding. The national flood insurance program has paid one claim here since 2009.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Homes in Lake Shore sell for about $527K
88% of households live in a home they own in Lake Shore. For Lake Shore, the going rate for rent is $2,241 a month. On the market here: a median 29 days to sell.
| Lake Shore | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,241 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 88% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Lake Shore
Colleges nearby
13 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Shore
About 2 of every 100 Lake Shore residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
About Lake Shore
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Lake Shore is a census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,056 at the 2020 census. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Lake Shore ranks 124th of 614 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 223 ft
Lake Shore’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Lake Shore.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Shore | #111 | B− | D | — | C+ | A |
| Felida | #101 | B | D | — | C+ | A |
| Salmon Creek | #110 | B− | D | — | C+ | A− |
| Vancouver | #237 | C− | D | D | C+ | B |
| Hazel Dell | #182 | C | D | — | C+ | B |
Lake Shore, Felida, Salmon Creek and Hazel Dell report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lake Shore with a neighbor →
Questions about Lake Shore
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Shore, WA a good place to live?
Lake Shore grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #111 of 285 in Washington. It grades A for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Lake Shore, WA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $566,000, 4% 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 D.