RosedaleWA
A town of 4,208, settled in 1887.
Is Rosedale a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rosedale grades B+ overall, 68th among Washington's 285 graded towns. It has 9 miles of trail. Its schools rank ahead of 88% of Washington towns and residents are healthier than 85% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $888K for a typical one and 7.7 times the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. Rosedale’s median household income is $159,000, where Washington’s towns sit at $98,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. The biggest place to walk is McCormick Forest Park, 102 acres with 1.5 miles of trail. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 69% of U.S. towns.
9 miles of trails in Rosedale
9.6% of the town is conserved land, across 4 parks and preserves.
How Rosedale grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Rosedale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Space Needle and 131 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rosedale. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
22 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
Big draw32 mi National ParkOlympic National Park3.6M visitors a year
23 mi Ancient siteSeattle UndergroundPhoto credits
Space Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Climate Pledge Arena: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lumen Field: "Smart Destinations", GoSeattleCard.com, and Go Seattle Card Blog, CC BY-SA 2.0 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Olympic National Park: Wsiegmund, CC BY 2.5 · Seattle Underground: Mark Hursh, CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Rosedale: who provides what
Rosedale 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 Rosedale.
Rosedale has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Seattle and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Washington.
Rosedale has set aside 9.6% of its land for conservation
8.8 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. The concentration of trails in Rosedale is 2.0 miles per square mile.
| Rosedale | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.6% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sehmel Homestead Park | 3.9 mi | 96 |
| 2. Rotary Bark Park | 3.3 mi | 93 |
| 3. McCormick Forest Park | 1.5 mi | 102 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Rosedale earns an A for health
Against the 2,240 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rosedale’s, it is less healthy than 68%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Among adults in Rosedale, 13% say their health is fair or poor. The town beats the Washington average on 12 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 28% of adults locally have been diagnosed with depression; 9% smoke cigarettes.
| Rosedale | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 25% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9% | 11% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 71% | 79% |
| What stands out | Rosedale | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 8.4% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.7% | 9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most of Rosedale’s workers leave town for work
Rosedale has 263 jobs for its 1,429 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 510 in 2013 to 263.
For half of commuters, work is under 18 miles away. In Rosedale, 2.5% of residents live below the poverty line. Employers in Rosedale shed 247 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 263. The top destinations are Seattle (14%), Tacoma (13%) and Gig Harbor (9%).
| Rosedale | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 25% | 15% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.5% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
More middle-aged adults than Washington overall
The median household earns $158,800, against $98,141 across Washington, one input to its A− for jobs and income.
Adults 35 to 64 are half of residents (38% statewide); children under 18 are 16% of residents (21% statewide). Rosedale’s median age stands at 44.8 years. For adults 25 and older locally, the share who hold a bachelor’s degree or more is 46%.
| Rosedale | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 30% | 29% |
| Median age | 44.8 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 16% | 18% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
59% women, 41% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±9.3 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 72% are women (WA 49%).
| Rosedale | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.7% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.5% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 19.3% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.1% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.5% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.4% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.4% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 28.2% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.3% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,200, single groups can be off by several points
The biggest natural risk in Rosedale is earthquakes, at a high overall level
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 70% of U.S. communities. 71% of Rosedale’s expected losses from natural hazards come from earthquakes, followed by inland flooding at 22%. 2 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1998.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The climate in Rosedale brings mild winters and pleasant summers
July afternoons average 76.9°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.9°.
Snow almost never falls. In Rosedale, the January low is 36°F.
| Rosedale | 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 Rosedale sells for about $1.14M at the median
At 7.7 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 83% of Washington towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $6,856, against $4,556 across Washington, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Rosedale: 93% of households live in a home they own.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Rosedale
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Rosedale
About 4 of every 100 Rosedale residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
99% of working residents leave Rosedale for work
Where Rosedale’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Rosedale
CDP in Washington, United States
Rosedale is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pierce County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, Rosedale had a population of 4,357. A post office called Rosedale was established in 1887, and remained in operation until 1918. The community was named for roses near the original town site.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 138 ft
- Area code
- 253
Rosedale’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Rosedale.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosedale | #68 | B+ | C− | — | A | A |
| Gig Harbor | #102 | B | D | C− | A | A |
| Artondale | #54 | B+ | D | — | A | A |
Rosedale and Artondale report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rosedale with a neighbor →
Questions about Rosedale
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rosedale, WA a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rosedale grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #68 of 285 in Washington. It grades A for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Rosedale, WA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $888,000, 51% above the Washington typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.