Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Overall it grades C+, 159th of 285 graded towns in Washington. Its schools rank ahead of 88% of Washington towns and the median household earns $98K. Its weakest subject is safety: its police reported 35 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 89% of U.S. towns. Sumner has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Ryan House and Dieringer School. Homes are expensive, about $586K for a typical one and 5.1 times the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income.
Where Sumner beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
9,451 counted in 2010 and 10,621 in 2020; an estimated 10,871 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Sumner is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for hazard risk (better than 3%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 580 in 1890, 10,621 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 5 maps from 1942 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sumner. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
5 mi Theme parkWild Waves Theme Park
9 mi Stadium & arenaTacoma Dome
25 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile ParkSpace Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lumen Field: "Smart Destinations", GoSeattleCard.com, and Go Seattle Card Blog, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Climate Pledge Arena: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wild Waves Theme Park: Jessica Spengler from Hove, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0 · Tacoma Dome: Broran28, Public domain · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sumner, 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 Sumner.
Sumner draws workers from Tacoma and beyond, has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Washington.
17,916 jobs are based in Sumner, 3.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 11,198 in 2013 to 17,916.
Most working residents leave Sumner for work: only 10% work in town. Since 2013, Sumner has added 6,718 jobs, to 17,916 in 2023. Sumner’s average trip to work is 30 minutes, against 27 minutes in Washington’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4.9% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $98,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $587K.
Its public schools are run by the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Sumner High School, with 1,857 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 674 | – |
| Sumner High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,857 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
131 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 39 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1996, 131 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sumner. Among 285 Washington towns, just 9 have a higher FEMA risk score than Sumner.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 561 to 260 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Sumner’s property crime rate is 20.6 per 1,000 residents, above both the Washington town median (15) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Sumner’s violent crime rate is 3.2 per 1,000 residents. Sumner reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 89% report less.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20.6 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
July afternoons average 77.4°, cooler than in 96% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.4°.
Sumner has mild winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Sumner is 77°F. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 35°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within Washington it is less healthy than 74% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar. Against the 8,841 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sumner’s, it is less healthy than 56%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Sumner beats the Washington average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 70% of Sumner adults had a checkup this year.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Sumner | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.3% | 9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.3% | 5.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 12.5% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3.0 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rainier View Park | 0.4 mi | 4 |
| 2. Daffodil Valley Sports Complex | 0.1 mi | 13 |
| 3. Loyalty Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
54% of households own their home in Sumner. The typical Sumner home is worth about $587,000, up 0.5% in a year, close to the Washington typical home.
| Sumner | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,974 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
10 within 15 miles of the center of Sumner
About 5 of every 100 Sumner residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
Where Sumner’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Sumner on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Washington, United States
Sumner is a city in northern Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,621 at the 2020 census. Nearby cities include Puyallup to the west, Auburn to the north, and Bonney Lake to the east.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Sumner.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner | #159 | C+ | D | D | A | B |
| Alderton | #113 | B− | C+ | — | A | B |
| North Puyallup | — | — | C+ | — | A− | B+ |
| Edgewood | #132 | B− | D | C | B+ | A− |
| Auburn | #214 | C− | D | D | B− | A− |
| Lake Tapps | #69 | B+ | D | — | A | A− |
| Bonney Lake | #75 | B | C− | C+ | A | B+ |
| Pacific | #146 | C+ | C− | C+ | B+ | B+ |
North Puyallup has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Alderton, North Puyallup and Lake Tapps report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sumner with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sumner grades C+ overall, better than 39% of U.S. towns and #159 of 285 in Washington. It grades B for health, D for safety and A for schools. Hazard risk 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.
