Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.5 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Washington town. Home to 20,146 people, the town was settled in 1862.
Trash & recyclingA tough set of grades. Where it falls short is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $450K, 6.4 years of the Port Angeles area’s $70K median household income. With a C− overall, Port Angeles is better than 20% of U.S. towns and ranks 230th of 285 in Washington. Its strongest subject is walkability: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 94% of U.S. towns. It also does well on schools: its schools rank ahead of 70% of Washington towns. Safety is weaker too: its police reported 76 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 87% of U.S. towns. Port Angeles's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 98% of U.S. towns. The town is home to Peninsula College.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FBI crime data, 2025.
Where Port Angeles beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Port Angeles is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,321 in 1900, 19,960 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1927 and 6 maps from 1918 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Port Angeles. Close and well known come first.
Big drawin town National ParkOlympic National Park3.6M visitors a year
28 mi Park & preserveHoh Rainforest
25 mi MountainMount Olympus
18 mi LakeLake Crescent
14 mi BeachDungeness Spit
32 mi LandmarkFort WordenOlympic National Park: Wsiegmund, CC BY 2.5 · Hoh Rainforest: User:Doug Dolde, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mount Olympus: R6, State & Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection, Public domain · Lake Crescent: Kashyap Hosdurga, CC BY 2.0 · Dungeness Spit: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Fort Worden: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Port Angeles, 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 Port Angeles.
Port Angeles is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and has seen reported crime fall by a fifth or more.
Reported crimes fell from 648 to 518 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Port Angeles’ property offense rate stands at 21.9 per 1,000 residents, where Washington’s towns sit at 15 and U.S. towns at 9.9. For Port Angeles, the violent offense rate is 3.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.9 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Below: Two of its 10 schools, each with why it was picked. The largest public high school is Port Angeles High School, with 974 students. The public schools here belong to the Port Angeles School District.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stevens Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 461 | – |
| Port Angeles High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 974 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Trails run 14 miles in 21 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Olympic National Park, 145 acres with 2.9 miles of trail. The concentration of trails in Port Angeles is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Olympic National Park | 2.9 mi | 145 |
| 2. Lincoln Park | 0.8 mi | 63 |
| 3. Shane Park | 0.4 mi | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
FEMA expects more storm and flood damage in Port Angeles than in just over four fifths of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 1979: 7. 77% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 11%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Port Angeles after 13 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A typical home in Port Angeles is worth about $450,000, about the same as a year ago, 23% below the Washington typical home. Port Angeles’ median rent stands at $1,170 a month, below the Washington town median ($1,740 a month) and near the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Among households here, 56% are owner-occupiers.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,170 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 9,529 U.S. towns with household incomes like Port Angeles’s, it is healthier than 89%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income. Within Washington it is less healthy than 63% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
Port Angeles: 70% of adults had a checkup this year. Of 31 CDC measures, Port Angeles beats the Washington average on 1 and trails it on 10. In Port Angeles, 31% of adults sleep under 7 hours, and 27% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 26% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Port Angeles | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 74.4% | 70.7% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.3% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 69°, cooler than in 99% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.6°.
Snow is almost unheard of. The seasons in Port Angeles: mild winters, cool summers. The January low for Port Angeles comes to 37°F.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 69°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 37°F | 35°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 9,247 working residents takes 16.7 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington.
The top destinations are Seattle (6%), Sequim (4%) and Port Angeles East (3%). For working residents here, the share who work locally is 40%. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs here rose by 589, to 8,948. Port Angeles’ average commute is 17 minutes.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 40% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 23% of residents (17% statewide). In Port Angeles, 18% of residents are under 18. Port Angeles’ midpoint age comes in at 42.6 years.
| Port Angeles | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 18% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 42.6 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.6 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 43.6, men 41.3.
| Port Angeles | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.5% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.1% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.7% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.4% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.1% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 14.6% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.3% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.9% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1 within 15 miles of the center of Port Angeles
About 5 of every 100 Port Angeles residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
8 places in Port Angeles on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Port Angeles.
City in Washington, United States
Port Angeles ( AN-jəl-əs) is a city in and the county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the county, as well as the most populous city on the Olympic Peninsula. The population was estimated at 20,112 in 2024. The city's harbor was dubbed Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles (Port of Our Lady of the Angels) by Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza in 1791. By the mid-19th century, after settlement by English speakers from the United States, the name was shortened and partially anglicized to its current form, Port Angeles Harbor. Port Angeles is home to Peninsula College. It is the birthplace of foo…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Port Angeles.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Angeles | #230 | C− | D | D | B+ | B+ |
| Port Angeles East | #71 | B | C+ | — | B+ | B+ |
Port Angeles East reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Port Angeles with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Port Angeles grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #230 of 285 in Washington. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
13 notable people were born here, including John Elway and Derek Kilmer.
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