Sudden ValleyWA
6,084 people call this town in Washington home.
What should you know before moving to Sudden Valley?
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Where it falls short is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $489K, 6 years of the Bellingham metro’s $82K median household income. Overall, Sudden Valley earns a C+, better than 36% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 169th of 285 in Washington. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 77% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Its strongest is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 96% of the country. It is strong on schools as well — its schools outperform 66% of the state's. The town’s concentration of trails is 1.5 miles per square mile, where Washington’s towns sit at 0.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenStreetMap.
What makes Sudden Valley stand out
Where Sudden Valley beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
97% of working residents leave Sudden Valley for work
Where Sudden Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Sudden Valley grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Sudden Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Sudden Valley: who provides what
Sudden Valley 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Sudden Valley.
Sudden Valley has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns, has less tooth loss than most of Washington and sends most of its workers to Bellingham and beyond.
Protected land: 12.2% of Sudden Valley
In 3 parks and preserves, walkers have 9.2 miles of trail. Stimpson Family Nature Reserve, at 259 acres with 2.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stimpson Family Nature Reserve | 2.1 mi | 259 |
| 2. Lake Louise Natural Resources Conservation Area | 1.8 mi | 135 |
| 3. Lookout Mountain Forest Preserve | 0.9 mi | 112 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A smaller share of adults in Sudden Valley sleep under 7 hours than in the typical Washington or U.S. town
Its widest gap with Washington is tooth loss: 4.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9% statewide.
For adults in Sudden Valley, the share who worry about having enough food is 5.5%. Against the Washington average, Sudden Valley comes out ahead on 17 CDC measures out of 31, and behind on 1. 25% of adults here have obesity; 13% get no exercise outside work.
| Sudden Valley | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 33% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.4% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sudden Valley | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.5% | 10.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About two in five of Sudden Valley’s working residents commute to Bellingham
Sudden Valley has 569 jobs for its 2,590 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
For half of commuters, work is under 10 miles away. Since 2013, Sudden Valley has added 373 jobs, to 569 in 2023. Most people who work leave Sudden Valley to do it: just 3% work in town. In Sudden Valley, the average commute is 31 minutes.
| Sudden Valley | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.4% | 5% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Sudden Valley has a high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
Of the losses FEMA expects in Sudden Valley, 74% come from inland flooding and 16% from earthquakes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A older population than Washington as a whole
In Sudden Valley, nearly half of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. People 65 and older are just over a quarter of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (24% statewide).
| Sudden Valley | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.6 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 16% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 49% | 30% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.7 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women.
| Sudden Valley | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.7% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.2% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.1% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.9% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.7% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.2% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.8% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.3% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 11.9% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.5% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.2% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.4% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.6% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Mild winters and pleasant summers: that is Sudden Valley’s year
July afternoons average 73.2°, cooler than in 99% of U.S. towns; January nights average 33.9°.
About 3 inches of snow falls in a winter. The town’s typical July afternoon high comes in at 73°F.
| Sudden Valley | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 73°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 34°F | 35°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Sudden Valley sell for about $570K
Among households in Sudden Valley, 93% are owner-occupiers. Its going rate for rent stands at $1,816 a month. On the market here: a median 18 days to sell.
| Sudden Valley | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 93% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,816 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mount Baker and 15 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sudden Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw25 mi MountainMount Baker
32 mi National ParkNorth Cascades National Park47K visitors a year
27 mi LandmarkPeace Arch32 mi Ski areaMt Baker47 runs · 1,475 ft vertical
6 mi TheatreMount Baker Theatre
7 mi MuseumWhatcom Museum of History and ArtPhoto credits
Mount Baker: Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY 2.5 · North Cascades National Park: Daniel Hershman, CC BY 2.0 · Peace Arch: Arnold C (User:Buchanan-Hermit), Attribution · Mount Baker Theatre: Benjamin Cody, Public domain · Whatcom Museum of History and Art: Benjamin Cody, Public domain
Everything we know about Sudden Valley
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Sudden Valley
About 6 of every 100 Sudden Valley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
About Sudden Valley
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Sudden Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) just outside Bellingham in Whatcom County, Washington. The population was 6,354 at the 2020 census, down from 6,441 at the 2010 census. Sudden Valley is the second-largest homeowner association in western Washington.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 8.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 673 ft
- Area code
- 360
Sudden Valley’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Sudden Valley.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudden Valley | #169 | C+ | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Geneva | — | — | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
Geneva has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Sudden Valley and Geneva report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sudden Valley with a neighbor →
Questions about Sudden Valley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Sudden Valley, WA a good place to live?
Sudden Valley grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #169 of 285 in Washington. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Sudden Valley, WA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $489,000, 17% below 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 D.