Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,288, settled in 1846.
The best of Point Roberts’ subject grades are an A− for walkability, health, and the outdoors; the weakest is a C− for incomes. 32% of residents are 65 or older in Point Roberts, above both Washington’s towns (16%) and U.S. towns (18%). Only 32 of Washington’s 397 towns score higher on hazard risk. Lily Point Marine Reserve, at 134 acres with 2.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Point Roberts has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Point Roberts beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Point Roberts | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9% |
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Point Roberts is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1861 and 4 maps from 1952 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Point Roberts is unincorporated, so Whatcom 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Point Roberts.
14% of Point Roberts adults binge drink, where Washington’s towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 16%. 27% of Point Roberts adults sleep under 7 hours. Point Roberts beats the Washington average on 15 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 8.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 16% |
| What stands out | Point Roberts | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4% | 9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.2% | 10.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.2% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Blaine School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Roberts PrimaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–2 | Grades K–2 | 5 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
7.5% of residents are under 18 in Point Roberts. Among 286 Washington towns, just 5 have a higher median age than Point Roberts. 45% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Point Roberts.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 7.5% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 58.2 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 30% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 85% are men (WA 52%).
| Point Roberts | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 2.4% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.3% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.5% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 5.6% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.1% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 26.2% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.3% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.5% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 19% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.9% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.9% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.8% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,300, single groups can be off by several points
The typical Point Roberts home is worth about $386,000, up 1.1% in a year, 34% below the Washington typical home. Point Roberts’ median rent is $1,095 a month.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,095 a month | $1,739 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
About one in 3 of Point Roberts’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Point Roberts is 33 minutes. Jobs based in Point Roberts fell to 151 in 2023, 50 fewer than in 2013.
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Point Roberts has mild winters and cool summers. July afternoons reach 73°, January nights drop to 36° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 23 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Point Roberts.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Point Roberts | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lily Point Marine Reserve | 2.6 mi | 134 |
| 2. Lighthouse Marine Park | 0.7 mi | 21 |
| 3. Monument Park | 0.3 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Point Roberts; the nearest are
About 9 of every 100 Point Roberts residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Point Roberts is a pene-exclave of the US state of Washington on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula, south of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The area, which had a population of 1,191 at the 2020 census, is reached from the rest of the United States by traveling 25 mi (40 km) through Canada, or without passing through Canada by boat or private airplane. It is a census-designated place in Whatcom County, Washington, with a post office, and a ZIP Code of 98281. Direct sea and air connections with the rest of the U.S. are available across Boundary Bay. Point Roberts was created when the United Kingdom and the United States settled the Pacific Northwest American–Canadian bord…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.7 years of the area's median household income ($81,784 across the Bellingham, 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.