Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Tacoma is a city of 229,816, and it grades C− overall, 234th among Washington's 285 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: it reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, including 1,984 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 77% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Tacoma’s violent crime rate is 8.6 per 1,000 residents, where Washington’s towns sit at 1.5 and U.S. towns at 1.6. Its National Register listings include Fort Nisqually Granary and Factor's House and Union Passenger Station. Only 6 of the 132 Washington towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Tacoma.
Where Tacoma beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Fort Nisqually Granary and Factor's House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Washington-Tacoma Campus | 4,497 |
| Tacoma Community College | 4,119 |
| Bates Technical College | 3,299 |
Fort Nisqually Granary and Factor's House is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 92 National Register listings are more than in 99% of Washington towns with a listing.
Census counts: 73 in 1870, 219,346 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1845 and 4 maps from 1961 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Tacoma is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 1%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Tacoma. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi LookoutSpace Needle
in town Stadium & arenaTacoma Dome
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw26 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
24 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
7 mi Theme parkWild Waves Theme ParkSpace Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tacoma Dome: Broran28, Public domain · 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 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wild Waves Theme Park: Jessica Spengler from Hove, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tacoma, 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 Tacoma.
Tacoma has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Washington; it also reports violent crime at 3 times the Washington rate.
Violent crime runs at 8.6 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Washington rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Reported crimes fell from 19,160 to 11,057 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Tacoma reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 99% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Tacoma School District. Two of its 84 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baker Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 687 | – |
| Stadium High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,700 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
84 miles of trail in 76 parks and preserves. Tacoma’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Point Defiance Park, 675 acres with 18.8 miles of trail.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Point Defiance Park | 18.8 mi | 675 |
| 2. Swan Creek Park | 5.4 mi | 278 |
| 3. Wapato Park | 3.4 mi | 85 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Since 1979, 54 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Tacoma.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Seattle Tacoma Intl Ap weather station, 15 miles away, records that about 4 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 98% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 76.9°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35.9°.
Tacoma has mild winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Tacoma is 77°F. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 77°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 36°F | 35°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Tacoma home is worth about $483,000, about the same as a year ago, 18% below the Washington typical home. 56% of Tacoma households own their home.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,676 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 55% | 51% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
About one in 4 of Tacoma’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Tacoma grew to 114,192 in 2023, 20,311 more than in 2013. 12% of residents live below the poverty line in Tacoma.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 28% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Washington it is less healthy than 75% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
Tacoma beats the Washington average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Tacoma | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7% | 7.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 7.1% | 5.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Tacoma has grown 4.6% since 2020, to 229,816 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 35% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across Washington.
| Tacoma | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 20% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.2 years | 38.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 30% | 29% |
50.5% women, 49.5% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±0.6 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 37.9, men 36.5.
| Tacoma | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.8% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.8% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.3% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.6% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.1% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.9% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.7% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.7% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.3% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
11 within 15 miles of the center of Tacoma
About 6 of every 100 Tacoma residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
6 colleges in town.
92 places in Tacoma on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in Tacoma.
City in Washington, United States
Tacoma ( tə-KOH-mə) is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Puget Sound roughly 30 miles (48 km) from Seattle and Olympia, and 58 miles (93 km) northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. Tacoma is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the third-most populous city in the state with a population of 219,346 at the 2020 census. Tacoma is the economic and cultural center of the South Sound region, which has a population of about 1 million. Tacoma adopted its name after the nearby Mount Rainier, called təˡqʷuʔbəʔ in the Puget Sound Salish dialect, and "Takhoma" in an anglicized version. It is locally known as the…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Tacoma.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tacoma | #234 | C− | C− | D− | C+ | B |
| University Place | #103 | B | D | C | A | A− |
| Midland | #187 | C | C+ | — | C | C+ |
| Fife | #226 | C− | D | D− | B+ | B+ |
| Browns Point | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dash Point | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fife Heights | — | — | D | — | B− | C |
| Lakewood | #262 | D | C | D | C | C+ |
Fife Heights has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Midland and Fife Heights report no FBI crime data of their own. Browns Point and Dash Point aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Tacoma with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tacoma grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #234 of 285 in Washington. It grades B for health, D− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($115,177 across the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
42 notable people were born here, including Bing Crosby and Frank Herbert.
