Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Moses Lake grades D overall, ranked 258th of 285 in Washington, mostly because of safety and schools. Its police reported 99 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. Its public schools trail 75% of Washington towns on state tests and graduation. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. 40% of working residents work locally in Moses Lake, against 4.8% in Washington’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Moses Lake is home to Big Bend Community College. Only 35 of Washington’s 397 towns score lower on history.
Where Moses Lake beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
20,366 counted in 2010 and 25,146 in 2020; an estimated 27,469 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 8.3% since 2020, after 23.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Moses Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 326 in 1940, 25,146 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1960 and 3 maps from 1912 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Moses Lake, 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 Moses Lake.
Moses Lake carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Washington (mostly inland flooding), is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Washington and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of Washington.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 98% of Washington towns, with expected losses of about $120 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Moses Lake, 53% come from inland flooding and 18% from cold waves. One declared disaster, in 2017, has brought federal aid to Moses Lake households.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The public schools here belong to the Moses Lake School District. Two of its 20 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 6 public schools serve Moses Lake, with 2,276 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 875 | – |
| Moses Lake High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,856 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 1,231 to 807 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
In Moses Lake, the level of property crime is 25.9 per 1,000 residents. The rate of reported violence for Moses Lake comes to 3.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Moses Lake | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 25.9 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
On the market in Moses Lake: a median 104 days to sell. The share of households in Moses Lake who live in a home they own: 61%. Also worth knowing: in Moses Lake, the median rent is $1,216 a month.
| Moses Lake | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 61% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,216 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
14 miles of trail in 29 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Blue Heron Park, at 80 acres. Moses Lake’s concentration of trails is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Blue Heron Park | 0.8 mi | 80 |
| 2. McCosh Park | 0.8 mi | 19 |
| 3. Paul Lauzier Athletic Complex | 0.6 mi | 33 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 23.9°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 86% of Washington places with climate records; July afternoons average 89.4°.
The January low in Moses Lake is 24°F.
| Moses Lake | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 89°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 24°F | 35°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 10,725 working residents takes 18.2 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington.
Among workers in Moses Lake, 7.1% do their job from home. Jobs based in Moses Lake grew to 13,434 in 2023, 3,076 more than in 2013. For Moses Lake, the typical journey to work is 18 minutes. The top destinations are Moses Lake North (4%), Ephrata (4%) and Spokane (3%).
| Moses Lake | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 7.1% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Washington it is less healthy than 77% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
Of 31 CDC measures, Moses Lake beats the Washington average on 1 and trails it on 14. In Moses Lake, 14% of adults worry about having enough food. Two figures for adults here: 19% binge drink, 37% have obesity.
| Moses Lake | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 71% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Moses Lake | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 7.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.6% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Moses Lake
About 5 of every 100 Moses Lake residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
14 notable people were born in Moses Lake.
City in Washington, United States
Moses Lake is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,146 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 26,969 in 2024. Moses Lake is the most populous city in Grant County. The city anchors the Moses Lake Micropolitan area, which includes all of Grant County and is part of the Moses Lake–Othello combined statistical area. Moses Lake, on which the city lies, is made up of three main arms over 18 miles (29 km) long and up to one mile (1.6 km) wide. It is the largest natural body of fresh water in Grant County and has over 120 miles (190 km) of shoreline covering 6,500 acres (2,600 ha). Before it was dammed in the early 1900s and then incorporated into the Colum…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Moses Lake.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moses Lake | #258 | D | C− | D | C | B |
| Cascade Valley | #271 | D− | D | — | C | C |
| Moses Lake North | #269 | D | C+ | — | C | C− |
Cascade Valley and Moses Lake North report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Moses Lake with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Moses Lake grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #258 of 285 in Washington. It grades B for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 4.9 years of the area's median household income ($73,267 across the Moses Lake, WA 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−.
14 notable people were born here, including Clarence Gilyard and Pierson Fodé.
