Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,934, settled in 1883.
Vashon’s grades pull in different directions. Where it does best is health (A+): residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Schools are a strength too (A): its public schools beat 87% of Washington towns on state tests and graduation. What counts against it is cost of living — the typical home is worth about $876K, 7.6 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. Overall, that makes a B, good for 90th of 285 in Washington. Nationally, it does better than 60% of U.S. towns. Hazard risk is weaker too: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than just over four fifths of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top. On history, just 24 of Washington’s 397 towns do better.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Vashon beats most towns.
4% of the town is conserved land, across 39 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Vashon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 944 in 1900, 11,055 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 4 maps from 1949 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vashon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
14 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
14 mi Ancient siteSeattle Underground
Big draw36 mi National ParkOlympic National Park3.6M 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 · Olympic National Park: Wsiegmund, CC BY 2.5
Vashon is unincorporated, so King 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Vashon.
Vashon is a second-home town and has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Washington.
For adults 18 to 64 in Vashon, the share who have no health insurance is 5.2%. In Vashon, 27% of adults sleep under 7 hours, against 33% in Washington’s towns and 36% across U.S. towns. Two figures for adults here: 25% have obesity, 14% report frequent mental distress. The town does better than the Washington average on 19 of 31 CDC measures and worse on 6.
| Vashon | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.6% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Vashon | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 10.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3.1% | 5.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $876K.
The largest public high school is Vashon Island High School, with 511 students. The Vashon Island School District runs its public schools. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chautauqua ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 480 | – |
| Vashon Island High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 511 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
At 7.6 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income, the typical home (about $876K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of Washington towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The typical value, about $876K, is 8% below its June 2022 peak.
The share of households in Vashon who are owner-occupiers: 83%. The typical Vashon home is worth about $876,000, down 2.2% in a year, 49% above the Washington typical home. The rent at the middle of the market for Vashon comes to $1,670 a month.
| Vashon | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,670 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Vashon’s concentration of trails stands at 0.9 miles per square mile, near the Washington town median (0.8) and above the median of U.S. towns (0.4). In 39 parks and preserves, walkers have 69 miles of trail. Island Center Forest, at 438 acres with 8.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Vashon | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maury Island Natural Area | 9.3 mi | 270 |
| 2. Island Center Forest | 8.6 mi | 438 |
| 3. Wax Orchard Park | 5.3 mi | 111 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Since 1982, 22 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vashon. FEMA expects more storm and flood damage here than in 81% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Vashon households in 5 declared disasters; the latest was in 2025. Expected losses in Vashon break down as 67% from earthquakes and 25% from inland flooding.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
39.4% of workers work from home, against 19.8% across Washington.
For Vashon, the average trip to work is 34 minutes. One in 3 of the town’s working residents works locally. Since 2013, Vashon has added 517 jobs, to 2,582 in 2023. Just over one in ten residents live below the poverty line in the town.
| Vashon | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 37% | 4.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 34 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $121,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 76.9°, cooler than in 97% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.2°.
About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter. For Vashon, the typical July afternoon high is 77°F.
| Vashon | 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
14 within 15 miles of the center of Vashon
About 4 of every 100 Vashon residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
7 places in Vashon on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Vashon.
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Vashon (, VASH-on) is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. Before the construction of a tombolo built in 1913, Vashon Island and Maury Island were connected only during low tide; now they are considered a tied island. The CDP's population was 11,055 at the 2020 census, up from 10,624 in 2010. The CDP covers an area of 36.9 square miles (95.6 km2). The island is connected to West Seattle and the Kitsap Peninsula to the north and Tacoma to the south via the Washington State Ferries system, as well as to Downtown Seattle …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Vashon.
Vashon reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Vashon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Vashon grades B overall, better than 60% of U.S. towns and #90 of 285 in Washington. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living 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.
4 notable people were born here, including Dolores Sibonga and Benjamin F. Wilson.
