MidlandWA
Population 9,050: a town settled in 1890.
Is Midland a good place to live?
Where it falls short is schools (C) — its public schools trail 70% of Washington towns on state tests and graduation. It lags on hazard risk as well: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 69% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Walkability is its strong suit: it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns. At about $480K, a typical home costs 4.2 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. The overall grade lands at C, 187th of 285 in Washington. Set against the rest, it does better than 30% of U.S. towns. Midland’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile, below both Washington’s towns (0.8) and U.S. towns (0.4). Its typical journey to work is 33 minutes, above both the Washington town median (27 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
What makes Midland stand out
Where Midland beats most towns.
Midland has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
8,962 counted in 2010 and 9,962 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Midland grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Midland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Space Needle and 126 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Midland. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
4 mi Stadium & arenaTacoma Dome
8 mi Theme parkWild Waves Theme Park
29 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile ParkPhoto 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 · Climate Pledge Arena: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tacoma Dome: Broran28, Public domain · Wild Waves Theme Park: Jessica Spengler from Hove, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Midland: who provides what
Midland 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 Midland.
Most of Midland’s workers commute out: the town has 0.6 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Midland for work: only 3% work in town. 7.8% of Midland workers work from home. Jobs locally fell by 301 from 2013 to 2023, to 2,560. For half of commuters, work is under 9 miles away.
| Midland | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.8% | 15% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.9% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Midland’s grade for schools is a C
The public schools here belong to the Franklin Pierce School District. One of its 3 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris Ford Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 831 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Natural hazards: high risk in Midland, mostly earthquakes
Expected losses in Midland break down as 73% from earthquakes and 22% from inland flooding. 2 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 2007.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Midland has four seasons and pleasant summers
The Mcmillin Rsvr weather station, 8 miles away, records that about 3 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 98% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 77°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.7°.
The midsummer high in Midland is 77°F. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Midland | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 36°F | 35°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A home in Midland is worth about $481K, on Zillow’s estimate
The median rent for Midland comes to $1,546 a month. 58% of households are owner-occupiers locally. On the market locally: a median 43 days to sell.
| Midland | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,546 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A larger share of adults sleep under 7 hours in Midland than in most of Washington or the rest of the country
The share of adults in Midland who report frequent mental distress: 19%. The town beats the Washington average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 21.
| Midland | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Midland | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.6% | 7.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.8% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Midland keeps 0.7% of its land conserved
Across 1 park or preserve: 0.2 miles of trail. Parks and preserves in Midland: one, of 5 acres.
| Midland | 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. Dawson Playfield | 0.2 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Midland
Colleges nearby
10 within 15 miles of the center of Midland
About 4 of every 100 Midland residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
97% of working residents leave Midland for work
Where Midland’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Midland
CDP in Washington, United States
Midland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 9,962 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.0 sq mi
- Elevation
- 433 ft
- Area code
- 253
Midland’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Midland.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midland | #187 | C | C+ | — | C | C+ |
| Tacoma | #234 | C− | C− | D− | C+ | B |
| Summit | #138 | B− | C | — | B | B− |
| Parkland | #216 | C− | C | — | C+ | C+ |
| Clover Creek | #241 | C− | C− | — | C | C+ |
| Waller | #105 | B | C | — | B+ | B |
Midland, Summit, Parkland, Clover Creek and Waller report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Midland with a neighbor →
Questions about Midland
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Midland, WA a good place to live?
Midland grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #187 of 285 in Washington. It grades C+ for health and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Midland, WA expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.