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At a glance
- Stronger than most towns on: Home internet and working from home, Dining and entertainment and Long, healthy lives.
- Weaker than most towns on: Pleasant weather for being outdoors, Airport access and Housing affordability.
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The 123rd largest of the 570 towns we track in Washington.
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Typical household income is 0% above the typical town in Washington.
- We don't have figures yet for: Schools.
A score of 60 or more is stronger than most towns. Under 40 is weaker than most.
Quick answers about Birch Bay
Where is Birch Bay?
Birch Bay is in
Whatcom County, Washington.
Nearby towns include Blaine, Custer and Ferndale.
What is the ZIP code for Birch Bay?
Birch Bay has no ZIP code of its own in our data. The closest ZIP codes are 98230 and 98240 .
ZIP codes are mail delivery areas, not town borders, so check an address with the
US Postal Service lookup.
How many people live in Birch Bay?
About 10,837 people live in Birch Bay , the 123rd largest of the 570 towns we track in Washington.
This is a US Census Bureau estimate.
Is Birch Bay safe?
Birch Bay scores 71 out of 100 for safety, which is stronger than most towns we track. A higher score means lower crime. That includes 2.3 homicides per 100,000 people in the county. The state figure is 366 violent crimes per 100,000 people across the whole state.
How expensive is it to live in Birch Bay?
Birch Bay has everyday prices of 100.0 (100 is typical for the US), typical rent of $1,222 a month and a typical home price of $477,200.
Its cost of living scores 36 out of 100 (a higher score means cheaper), which is weaker than most towns we track.
We compare this town with all 27,850 towns we track. A higher score is always better.
Cost of living 36 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Everyday prices (100 = typical for the US) | 100.0 | 37% |
| Typical rent | $1,222 | 33% |
Jobs and income 61 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Typical household income | $86,854 | 71% |
| Unemployment | 3.7% | 52% |
| Poverty rate | 9.4% | 55% |
A place that is growing 75 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Change in population (5 years) | +16.2% | 78% |
| Change in income (5 years) | +39.2% | 69% |
Home internet and working from home 84 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Homes with fast internet (whole county) | 92.9% | 89% |
| People who work from home | 15.3% | 75% |
State taxes 41 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| State taxes per resident | $5,036 | 28% |
| State income tax per resident | $70 | 85% |
| State sales tax per resident | $2,991 | 2% |
Property taxes 61 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Property tax as a share of home price | 0.65% | 76% |
| Typical property tax paid | $3,110 | 30% |
Housing affordability 28 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Home price compared with yearly income | 5.5× | 11% |
| Share of income spent on rent | 16.9% | 61% |
| Typical home price | $477,200 | 14% |
Space and yard size 41 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Typical rooms per home | 5.4 | 32% |
| Stand-alone houses | 73.0% | 43% |
| People per square mile | 634 | 57% |
Schools no figures yet
We don't rate schools for every town. This one has no high school of its own, or too little data, so we show what we have without a score.
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| High-school students in AP or IB classes | We don't have this yet | — |
| High-school students taking college classes | We don't have this yet | — |
| Students who miss 15+ days a year | We don't have this yet | — |
| Graduation rate (class of 2018 or 2019) | We don't have this yet | — |
| Students per teacher | We don't have this yet | — |
| Children in poverty (context, not scored) | We don't have this yet | — |
Diversity & community 70 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Variety of backgrounds (0 to 100) | 39 | 66% |
| Residents born outside the US | 9.9% | 80% |
Health and medical care 71 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Family doctors per 100,000 people (whole county) | 94 | 84% |
| Dentists per 100,000 people (whole county) | 75 | 74% |
| Mental-health providers per 100,000 people (whole county) | 632 | 95% |
| Hospitals in town | 0 | 43% |
| People without health insurance | 4.8% | 59% |
Long, healthy lives 78 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Life expectancy (years) (whole county) | 79.6 | 86% |
| Early deaths (before age 75) (whole county) | 6,159 | 86% |
| Adults in fair or poor health | 15.3% | 79% |
| Adults who had a checkup this year | 68.7% | 8% |
Safety 71 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Homicides per 100,000 people (whole county) | 2.3 | 81% |
| Violent crime per 100,000 people (whole state) | 366 | 49% |
Clean air and low disaster risk 54 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Fine-particle air pollution (whole county) | 5.6 | 92% |
| Risk of floods, storms and other disasters (0 to 100) (whole county) | 91 | 26% |
Short commute 43 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Average commute | 26 min | 43% |
Walkability 46 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Walkability (1 = car needed, 20 = very walkable) | 5.8 | 47% |
| People who walk, bike or ride to work | 0.8% | 36% |
Public transit 40 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Buses and trains per hour | 0.0 | 39% |
| Distance to the nearest stop (meters) | 5,000 | 41% |
Airport access 27 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Miles to major airport | 104 | 27% |
Dining and entertainment 81 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Restaurants and bars per 1,000 residents (whole county) | 2.4 | 80% |
| Entertainment and recreation businesses per 1,000 residents (whole county) | 0.63 | 82% |
Weather 62 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Average temperature | 51°F | — |
| January low | 33°F | — |
| July high | 74°F | — |
| Yearly rain | 55 in | — |
| Yearly snow | 15 in | — |
Pleasant weather for being outdoors 8 out of 100
| What we measured | This town | Beats this share of towns |
|---|
| Comfortable days per year | 84 | 10% |
| Sunshine hours per year | 2,718 | 2% |
Other facts
| Typical age | 44.6 |
| Adults with a college degree | 32% |
| Hot days per year (90°F+) | 0 |
| Freezing days per year (low 32°F or less) | 27 |
| Residents who belong to a religious group (whole county) | 43.7% |
More towns to explore
Nearby towns in Washington
Largest towns in Whatcom County
Free tools for Birch Bay
Each calculator opens with this town's figures filled in. You can change any of them.
How we score towns, and where the figures come from
How we score
- Cost of living: How expensive everyday life is compared with the rest of the US, adjusted for local rent, plus the typical rent.
- Jobs and income: Typical household income, how many people are out of work, and how many live in poverty.
- A place that is growing: How much the number of people and the typical income have grown between the two most recent Census survey periods (each covers five years).
- Home internet and working from home: How many homes in the county have fast internet, and how many people work from home.
- State taxes: Taxes each state government collects per resident: all taxes, income tax and sales tax (US Census). These are amounts collected, not what you would personally pay.
- Property taxes: The typical property tax homeowners pay, and that tax as a share of the typical home price (US Census).
- Housing affordability: Home prices compared with income, rent as a share of income, and the typical home price.
- Space and yard size: Rooms per home, how many homes are stand-alone houses, and how spread out people are. We do not have yard or lot sizes from free sources.
- Schools: The public schools located in the town: how many high-school students take AP/IB or college classes, how many students miss a lot of school, the graduation rate (older data) and class size. Child poverty is shown for context and is not scored. Towns with no high school or too little data are not rated. We do not have test scores yet.
- Diversity & community: The mix of racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the share of residents born outside the US.
- Health and medical care: Open hospitals in each town, family doctors, dentists and mental-health providers per person (county), and how many people have no health insurance.
- Long, healthy lives: How long people live and how many die early (county), and how many residents report fair or poor health or get regular checkups (CDC).
- Safety: Homicides in the county (County Health Rankings) and the state rate of violent crime (FBI, when available).
- Clean air and low disaster risk: Fine-particle air pollution (county) and the risk of floods, storms, fires and other disasters (county, from FEMA).
- Short commute: Average commute time of people who travel to work.
- Walkability: How easy it is to get around on foot near the town center (connected streets, shops close to homes), and how many people walk or bike to work.
- Public transit: How often buses and trains run near the town center, and how far the nearest stop is.
- Airport access: Distance in a straight line to the nearest large airport with passenger flights.
- Dining and entertainment: Restaurants, cafes and bars for every 1,000 residents, and arts, entertainment and recreation businesses for every 1,000 residents, across the whole county (US Census).
- Weather: How close the average temperature and seasons are to the climate you pick, plus comfortable days.
- Pleasant weather for being outdoors: Days that are 65–85°F and dry, and hours of sunshine.
The religious group figure counts members and regular attendees of congregations (US Religion Census 2020). It comes from
congregations, not a survey, so every town in a county shows the same figure.
Where the figures come from
- Population, income, housing and jobs: American Community Survey (US Census), 2024, five-year estimates
- Walkability and public transit: EPA Smart Location Database (neighborhoods near the town center)
- County health figures: County Health Rankings 2025 (Whatcom County)
- Disaster risk: FEMA National Risk Index (county)
- Hospitals: US Homeland Security hospital list (HIFLD)
- Nearest airport: OurAirports: nearest is Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
- Health of residents: CDC local health estimates
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional prices 2024 (state), adjusted by local rent
- Safety: FBI crime data 2023 (state level)
- State taxes: Census State Tax Collections FY2025 (state level, per resident)
- Dining and entertainment: Census County Business Patterns 2023 (county, for every 1,000 residents)
- Religious groups: US Religion Census 2020 (county level: members divided by population)
- Weather: Open-Meteo archive 2024
These are estimates. Please check current listings and official sources before you decide.
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