Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Zillah is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, 240th among Washington's 285 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: residents are healthier than 66% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $371K, 5.2 years of the Yakima metro’s $71K median household income. Zillah’s July high is 90°F, against 77°F in Washington’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. Zillah's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 96% of U.S. towns. Teapot Dome Service Station is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Zillah’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Zillah is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 647 in 1920, 3,179 in 2020. The archive holds 7 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1958 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Zillah, 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 Zillah.
Its public schools are run by the Zillah School District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Zillah High School, with 455 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hilton Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 305 | – |
| Zillah High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 455 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
The median rent in Zillah is $1,093 a month. The typical Zillah home is worth about $371,000, about the same as a year ago, 37% below the Washington typical home.
| Zillah | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,093 a month | $1,740 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 70% | 71% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Zillah for work: only 10% work in town. Zillah’s average trip to work is 23 minutes. The top destinations are Yakima (17%), Toppenish (9%) and Sunnyside (5%).
| Zillah | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 7.9% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 4.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 75% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1.1 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Zillah | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6% | 4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stewart Park | — | 4 |
| 2. Loges Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Adams Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Zillah has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 27° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within Washington it is less healthy than 64% of the 285 graded towns: Washington sets a high bar.
69% of Zillah adults had a checkup this year. Zillah beats the Washington average on 2 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 14% of Zillah adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Zillah | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 71% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 10% | 14% |
| What stands out | Zillah | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.8% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 21.4% | 24.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.9% | 10.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Zillah's reported crime rate is well below Washington's. Only 8 of the 137 Washington towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Zillah. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Zillah | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 8 per 1,000 residents | 19.4 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Zillah. Close and well known come first.
17 mi MuseumYakima Electric Railway Museum
31 mi National Historical ParkManhattan Project National Historical Park56K visitors a year
40 mi State parkGinkgo Petrified Forest State Park
17 mi TheatreCapitol Theatre
16 mi GardenYakima Area ArboretumYakima Electric Railway Museum: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Manhattan Project National Historical Park: Unknown, Public domain · Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park: No machine-readable author provided. Justinleif~commonswiki assumed (based on co, Public domain · Capitol Theatre: User:Cacophony, CC BY 2.5 · Yakima Area Arboretum: Bobjgalindo, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Zillah
About 4 of every 100 Zillah residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
City in Washington, United States
Zillah is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States, with a population of 3,179 as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Zillah grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #240 of 285 in Washington. It grades B+ for health and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
