Living in Wenatchee, WA
Small city in Washington
Wenatchee is a small city in Washington, home to about 36,000 people, with 72,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a moderate pace, and homes are a mix of apartments and houses.
Is Wenatchee a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Safe: violent crime is 0.5× the US rate (FBI 2019)
- Great outdoors: hills or mountains nearby
- Low taxes: about $70 state income tax per resident, 0.74% property tax
- Mild summers: highs around 86°F
👎 Cons
- Smaller job market: about 72,000 people live within 31 mi
- Few top-rated hospitals: no 4–5★ hospital within 31 mi
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
- Fewer graduates: 29% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Wenatchee ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Wenatchee: common questions
What is the cost of living in Wenatchee?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $505k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $2,060 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are above the US average (index 104, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Wenatchee?
Washington collects about $70 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.74% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Wenatchee safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.5× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Wenatchee?
Public schools in Wenatchee test below the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 17 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Wenatchee?
Wenatchee has cold winters: winter days average around 39°F and summer days around 86°F, with roughly 17″ of snow a year.
Does Wenatchee get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding and earthquakes: 10 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.46 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Wenatchee?
The nearest major airport is SEA, about 93 mi away.
How Wenatchee scores
Each bar compares Wenatchee 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 Wenatchee
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 Wenatchee right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.