Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY 3.0Puyallup’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Puyallup Public Library serves Puyallup’s 43,410 residents. Last year it lent 349K books, movies and e-books and logged 232K visits.
Puyallup’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
60,624 cards for 43,410 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
People come to Puyallup Public Library a lot
Puyallup Public Library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Puyallup’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Puyallup is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #66 of 152 in Washington. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
158 community nonprofits are registered in Puyallup
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (53 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Puyallup’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Puyallup’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Puyallup Public Library serves 43,410 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 124 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
349K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 100K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
78,011 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Puyallup last year.
Find it
Puyallup Public Library, 324 S Meridian, Puyallup.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Puyallup? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Puyallup cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 60,624 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puyallup | Puyallup Public Library fine-free | 8.0 | 54 | B |
| Fife | Fife Library fine-free | — | 48 | D |
| South Hill | South Hill Library fine-free | — | 62 | — unincorporated |
| North Puyallup | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Alderton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Summit | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Edgewood | None of its own | — | — | D |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Puyallup
Does Puyallup have a public library?
Yes. Puyallup Public Library, 324 S Meridian, serves Puyallup’s 43,410 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Puyallup Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Puyallup’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Puyallup’s civic life grade?
B Puyallup is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #66 of 152 in Washington. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Puyallup.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.