Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 14,886.
White Center's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C, 191st among Washington's 285 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 78% of the country. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $645K, 5.6 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. White Center’s July high is 76°F, against 77°F in Washington’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. White Center Fieldhouse and Caretaker Cottage is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where White Center beats most towns.
13,495 counted in 2010 and 16,631 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far White Center is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 13%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 19,362 in 1980, 16,631 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 5 maps from 1894 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around White Center. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw8 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
6 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
6 mi Ancient siteSeattle Underground
10 mi Stadium & arenaHusky StadiumSpace 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 · Husky Stadium: Atomic Taco, CC BY-SA 2.0
White Center 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 White Center.
White Center has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and sends most of its workers to Seattle and beyond, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Its public schools are run by the Highline School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Evergreen High School, with 1,080 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 671 | – |
| Evergreen High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,080 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
2.0 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Dick Thurnau Memorial Park, at 33 acres. The trail density in White Center is 0.9 miles per square mile.
| White Center | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.7% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Dick Thurnau Memorial Park | 0.5 mi | 33 |
| 2. White Center Heights Park | 0.3 mi | 7 |
| 3. White Center Pond Natural Area | 0.1 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
69% of adults had a checkup this year in White Center. White Center beats the Washington average on 4 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 27% of adults have obesity in White Center.
| White Center | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 71% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 35% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 10% | 14% |
| What stands out | White Center | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20.1% | 24.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.3% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
White Center has 2,036 jobs for its 7,230 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave White Center for work: only 2% work in town. 15% of White Center residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, White Center has added 468 jobs, to 2,036 in 2023.
| White Center | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 15% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.5% | 5% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 78% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons average 76.2°, cooler than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 36.4°.
White Center has mild winters and pleasant summers. White Center’s January low is 36°F. About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Washington average. 36% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 40% across Washington.
| White Center | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 13% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 30% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.6 years | 38.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 22% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women.
| White Center | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.7% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.1% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.8% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.7% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.6% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.2% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.7% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.8% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 18% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.6% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
63% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 49.9% across Washington.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
18 within 15 miles of the center of White Center
About 7 of every 100 White Center residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
Where White Center’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
White Center is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It lies between West Seattle and Burien. The population was 16,631 at the 2020 census. White Center is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Rat City" due to the historical presence of a military Relocation and Training Center during World War II. The Rat City Rollergirls are a Seattle roller derby team that began training in White Center.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with White Center.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Center | #191 | C | D | — | C− | A− |
| Seattle | #128 | B− | D | D− | A | A+ |
| Burien | #243 | D | D | D | C− | A− |
| Boulevard Park | #142 | B− | C− | — | A− | B− |
White Center and Boulevard Park report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare White Center with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
White Center grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #191 of 285 in Washington. It grades A− for health and C− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $645,000, 10% above the Washington typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
