Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 22,003, settled in 1904. A regional job hub with 42,504 jobs.
Tukwila's crime rate is higher than 100% of U.S. towns, with 117 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Overall it grades C−, 236th of 285 graded towns in Washington. It is healthier than 84% of U.S. towns and it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. Tukwila’s property crime rate is 98 per 1,000 residents, against 15 in Washington’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. No town in Washington scores lower than Tukwila on safety. Tukwila has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Tukwila School.
Where Tukwila beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
19,107 counted in 2010 and 21,798 in 2020; an estimated 22,003 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 Tukwila is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D− for safety (better than 1%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 361 in 1910, 21,798 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1920 and 4 maps from 1949 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Tukwila. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
8 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
9 mi Ancient siteSeattle Underground
in town MuseumThe Museum of Flight400K visitors a yearSpace 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 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seattle Underground: Mark Hursh, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Museum of Flight: Fawcett5 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tukwila, 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 Tukwila.
Tukwila draws workers from Seattle and beyond and has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns, but it reports more crime than Seattle and its other graded neighbors.
Each of the 5 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Seattle (D−) to Burien (D). Property crime runs at 98 per 1,000 residents, 5 times the Washington rate, most of it theft.
Tukwila reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 100% report less. The violent crime rate in Tukwila is 5.4 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Tukwila School District. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Foster Senior High School, with 910 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Showalter Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 651 | – |
| Foster Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 910 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
42,504 jobs are based in Tukwila, 4.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Tukwila for work: only 7% work in town. 13% of Tukwila residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Seattle (36%), SeaTac (9%) and Renton (7%).
| Tukwila | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $78,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 25 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 15% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Among 285 Washington towns, just 9 have a higher FEMA risk score than Tukwila. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Tukwila since 1996.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
11 miles of trail in 19 parks and preserves. Tukwila’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Fort Dent Park and Athletic Center, 55 acres with 2.3 miles of trail.
| Tukwila | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Dent Park and Athletic Center | 2.3 mi | 55 |
| 2. Crystal Springs Park | 0.4 mi | 18 |
| 3. Duwamish Hill Preserve | 0.4 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
69% of adults had a checkup this year in Tukwila. Tukwila beats the Washington average on 6 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 26% of adults have obesity in Tukwila.
| Tukwila | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 71% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Tukwila | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.2% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 19.2% | 24.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 15.2% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
July afternoons average 77°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.3°.
Tukwila has mild winters and pleasant summers. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Tukwila | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 36°F | 35°F | 22°F |
| July high | 77°F | 77°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
17 within 15 miles of the center of Tukwila
About 6 of every 100 Tukwila residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
Where Tukwila’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Tukwila on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 towns share a border with Tukwila.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tukwila | #236 | C− | C− | D− | C+ | A− |
| SeaTac | #245 | D | C− | D | C− | A− |
| Kent | #221 | C− | D | D | B− | A− |
| Burien | #243 | D | D | D | C− | A− |
| Seattle | #128 | B− | D | D− | A | A+ |
| Boulevard Park | #142 | B− | C− | — | A− | B− |
| Bryn Mawr-Skyway | #152 | C+ | D | — | C+ | A |
| Renton | #193 | C | D | D | C+ | A |
Boulevard Park and Bryn Mawr-Skyway report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Tukwila with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tukwila grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #236 of 285 in Washington. It grades A− for health, D− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 4.9 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−.
2 notable people were born here, including Jacob Castro and Jim North.
