Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 199,698, Vancouver does unevenly: it grades C−, 237th of 285 graded towns in Washington. It is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: its crime rate is higher than 94% of U.S. towns, with 1,111 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and homes are expensive, about $498K for a typical one and 5.1 times the Portland metro’s $97K median household income. 35% of working residents work locally in Vancouver, against 4.8% in Washington’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Covington House. On hazard risk, just 37 of Washington’s 397 towns do better.
Where Vancouver beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Its founding year, 1825, comes before those of 99% of the Washington towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,722 in 1880, 190,915 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1889 and 7 maps from 1897 on.
22 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Vancouver is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vancouver. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Stadium & arenaModa Center
9 mi Stadium & arenaProvidence Park
24 mi WaterfallMultnomah Falls
9 mi GardenForest Park
10 mi MuseumPittock Mansion
8 mi Stadium & arenaVeterans Memorial ColiseumModa Center: Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Providence Park: Pdx.rollingthunder, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Multnomah Falls: John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Forest Park: EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pittock Mansion: PittockBack.jpg: Cacophony derivative work: Tiptoety talk, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Veterans Memorial Coliseum: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vancouver, 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 Vancouver.
Vancouver carries less natural-hazard risk than most of Washington (mostly earthquakes), sends many workers across the state line to Portland and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Washington.
Reported crimes fell from 10,084 to 6,868 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Vancouver is 5.5 per 1,000 residents. Vancouver reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less. The property crime rate in Vancouver is 28.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.5 per 1,000 residents | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.6 per 1,000 residents | 15 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Evergreen School District. Two of its 74 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mcloughlin Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 849 | – |
| Union High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,989 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
53 miles of trail in 117 parks and preserves. Vancouver’s trail density is 1.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Vancouver Lake Park, 242 acres with 2.3 miles of trail.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.9% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site | 6.1 mi | 196 |
| 2. Vancouver Lake Park | 2.3 mi | 242 |
| 3. Frenchman's Bar Park | 2.2 mi | 203 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Vancouver has mild winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 36° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
25% of working residents cross a state line to work, Portland among the top destinations.
About one in 3 of Vancouver’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Vancouver grew to 100,295 in 2023, 22,765 more than in 2013. 18% of workers work from home in Vancouver.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 18% | 15% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $81,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 88% of Washington towns, with expected losses of about $302 per resident a year; that rating is what its B for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1986, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vancouver.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Washington it is less healthy than 72% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
Vancouver beats the Washington average on 0 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 68% of Vancouver adults had a checkup this year.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 68% | 71% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 26% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 33% | 36% |
| What stands out | Vancouver | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who get no exercise | 21.2% | 17.9% |
| More adults with obesity | 36.2% | 30.6% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 19.1% | 16.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Vancouver home is worth about $498,000, about the same as a year ago, 15% below the Washington typical home.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 71% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,702 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 51% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Washington average. Vancouver has grown 4.6% since 2020, to 199,698 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 32% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across Washington.
| Vancouver | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.9 years | 38.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 30% | 29% |
50.8% women, 49.2% men
About 97 men for every 100 women. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.5, men 36.4.
| Vancouver | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.6% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.5% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.3% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 24.4% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.4% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
15 within 15 miles of the center of Vancouver
About 5 of every 100 Vancouver residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
161,791 counted in 2010 and 190,915 in 2020; an estimated 199,698 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
22 places in Vancouver on the National Register of Historic Places.
38 notable people were born in Vancouver.
City in Washington, United States
Vancouver ( van-KOO-vər) is a city in Clark County, Washington, United States, located on the north bank of the Columbia River. It had a population of 190,915 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Washington. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, the city was originally established around Fort Vancouver, a fur trading outpost, and is situated directly north of Portland, Oregon, along the Washington–Oregon state line. Vancouver serves as the county seat of Clark County and is part of the Portland metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Vancouver.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Hazel Dell (C) is closest.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | #237 | C− | D | D | C+ | B |
| Hazel Dell | #182 | C | D | — | C+ | B |
| Minnehaha | #148 | C+ | C− | — | C+ | B |
| Five Corners | #143 | B− | C− | — | C+ | B |
| Orchards | #167 | C+ | C− | — | C+ | B |
| Camas | #17 | A | D | B+ | A+ | A |
| Lake Shore | #111 | B− | D | — | C+ | A |
Hazel Dell, Minnehaha, Five Corners, Orchards and Lake Shore report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Vancouver with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Vancouver grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #237 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. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
38 notable people were born here, including Michael Barratt and Tamina Snuka.
