Living in Orchards, WA
Suburb in Washington
Orchards is a suburb in Washington, home to about 30,000 people, with 2.1 million living within 31 mi. Day to day, most trips are by car. Life moves at a fast pace, and homes are mostly houses.
Is Orchards a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Mild summers: highs around 77°F
- Strong healthcare: 9 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
- Dog-friendly: 33 dog parks within 9 mi
- Family-friendly: playgrounds, family attractions and plenty of households with kids
👎 Cons
- Cloudier than most places
- Fewer graduates: 25% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 2.1 million people live within 31 mi
- Weaker public schools: test results below the US average
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Orchards ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Orchards: common questions
What is the cost of living in Orchards?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $508k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $2,620 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 105, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Orchards?
Washington collects about $70 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.83% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Orchards safe?
Orchards isn't in the FBI's 2019 city crime table, so Best Life Fit Me counts its safety as average.
How are the schools in Orchards?
Public schools in Orchards test below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 18 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Orchards?
Orchards has cool winters: winter days average around 47°F and summer days around 77°F.
Does Orchards get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding, earthquakes and cold waves: 7 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.53 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Orchards?
The nearest major airport is PDX, about 7 mi away.
How Orchards scores
Each bar compares Orchards with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Orchards
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Washington.
Is Orchards right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.