Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Longview earns a D−, 275th of 285 graded towns in Washington, mostly because of safety and incomes. It reports more crime per resident than 85% of U.S. towns, including 114 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $62K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it has 23 miles of trail. 27% of working residents work locally in Longview, above both the Washington town median (4.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Longview Bridge and First Christian Church. On health, just 32 of Washington’s 397 towns do worse.
Where Longview beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1850, comes before those of 96% of the Washington towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 10,652 in 1930, 37,818 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1924 and 4 maps from 1921 on.
22 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Longview is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Longview, 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 Longview.
Longview fares better on crime within Washington than nationally and trades workers with Kelso and other neighbors.
The trail density in Longview is 1.5 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Lake Sacajawea Park, 126 acres with 5.8 miles of trail.
| Longview | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.3% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Sacajawea Park | 5.8 mi | 126 |
| 2. Altrusa Park | 0.8 mi | 15 |
| 3. Gerhart Gardens Park | 0.4 mi | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Longview School District. Two of its 21 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monticello Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 525 | – |
| R A Long High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 926 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
At 41.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 73% of Washington’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,398 to 1,170 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Longview’s property crime rate is 27.5 per 1,000 residents. Longview reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 85% report less. Longview’s violent crime rate is 3 per 1,000 residents.
| Longview | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 27.5 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Longview home is worth about $387,000, about the same as a year ago, 34% below the Washington typical home. 55% of Longview households own their home.
| Longview | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,137 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 51% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 22 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Longview.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Longview beats the Washington average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 24. 17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Longview. Among 285 Washington towns, just 10 have a higher share of adults who have obesity than Longview.
| Longview | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | Longview | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.3% | 5.1% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.9% | 9% |
| More adults with heart disease | 7.7% | 5.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Longview has mild winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 79°, January nights drop to 35° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Longview has about as many jobs (19,285) as working residents, but only 4,939 people both live and work here.
About one in 4 of Longview’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Longview has added 2,917 jobs, to 19,285 in 2023. The top destinations are Kelso (7%), Vancouver (7%) and Portland (5%).
| Longview | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1 within 15 miles of the center of Longview
About 5 of every 100 Longview residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
22 places in Longview on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Longview.
City in Washington, United States
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the most populous city in Cowlitz County. The city is located in southwestern Washington, at the junction of the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers. Longview shares a border with Kelso to the east, which is the county seat. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of Cowlitz people, is headquartered in Longview. The Long-Bell Lumber Company, led by Robert A. Long, decided to buy a great expanse of timberland in Cowlitz Coun…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Longview.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longview | #275 | D− | C− | C− | C | C |
| Longview Heights | #279 | D− | D | — | C+ | B |
| Kelso | #261 | D | C− | C | C+ | C |
Longview Heights reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Longview with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Longview grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #275 of 285 in Washington. It grades C for health, C− for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. That is 5.1 years of the area's median household income ($76,531 across the Longview-Kelso, WA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
19 notable people were born here, including David Korten and Jeff Stork.
