City safety & data profile

RichlandWA

Richland, WA is a 54K-resident city in Benton County with a median household income of $95,813.

Benton County, Washington. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for Richland, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. Richland has a population larger than 81% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $436,700, and 2 hospitals serving the surrounding area.

54K
Population (place)
Top 19%
By size
$95,813
Median income (place)
$436,700
Median home (place)
9%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on Richland

Richland posts a median household income higher than 66% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 2 hospitals serve the Richland area.

Top 34%
by median income, US cities
2
hospitals in & near Richland

Composite score · Richland, WA

63/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2024

A transparent index Areazine derives from Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published, not an official Census Bureau or FBI rating. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move to or avoid any place. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Bachelor's+ share B
46.6%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Household income C+
$95,813

Median household income vs cities tracked on Areazine; ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Poverty rate C+
9.0%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis. ACS 5-Year Estimates.

Violent crime C-
291 /100k

FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents. State-level rate (per-city UCR reporting is incomplete/voluntary): every city in the state shares this value; lower is stronger on this axis.

See the full national tables: Healthiest Cities in America (health outcomes only) · Community Wellbeing Cities (this page's blended composite).

Where Richland income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$95,813 Top 34% higher than 66% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

Richland $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20,000-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in WA

109 WA places (10,000+ residents, ACS income on record), sorted by population. Hover a bar for its income rank in this pool.

residents

What this shows By headcount, Seattle ranks #1 here -- income honors go to Sammamish.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in WA

Median household income among the same 109-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Income honors go to Sammamish here -- by headcount, that title belongs to Seattle.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading Richland, WA beyond the headline numbers

Richland sits inside Benton County, Washington, at roughly 46.29°N, -119.28°W. Population 54,248, $95,813 median household income. Median home value $436,700, median rent $1,468. Poverty rate 9%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

2 hospitals in/around Richland, 4/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER. Climate: 53.6°F annual average, 7.2" precipitation.

Among the CDC measures on this page, short sleep duration departs furthest from its peer median: 29.8% in Richland, the lowest-prevalence quarter of the 3,852 cities reporting that measure.

46.6% of Richland adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

16.3% of Richland workers are remote, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

A median home in Richland runs about 4.6 times median household income, above the midpoint. Multiples in this range usually mean buyers are arriving from outside the local wage base.

Unemployment in Richland sits at 5.6%, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

At 9%, poverty in Richland, WA runs below the midpoint of reporting cities -- enough to matter locally, not enough to dominate the city's profile.

Median rent in Richland, WA runs $1,468/month, above the midpoint for reporting cities -- worth weighing against the income figures on this page.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for Richland from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

The 10-Year Trend 2013–2024

County-level trend (Benton County): Richland's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
213K+19%
Median Income
$89,874+49%
Median Home Value
$407,800+131%
Poverty Rate
11%-14%
Unemployment
5.3%-27%

Economics

What stands out most about Richland's economic profile: poverty rate at 9.0%, 27% below the average across tracked places. Median household income also diverges: $95,813, 7% above average.

Economics indicators for Richland, WA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,468/mo
Poverty Rate
9% -27% vs avg
Unemployment 5.6%
Bachelor's Degree+ 46.6%
Work From Home 16.3%
Public Transit 0.7%

Headcount

White 76.7%
African American 1.3%
Asian 6.5%
Two or More Ethnicities 0.7%

Health at a Glance 15 measures

Health Indicators

Obesity
34%
Short Sleep Duration
29.8%
High Blood Pressure
28.5%
Physical Inactivity
17.5%
Binge Drinking
17.1%
Frequent Mental Distress
15.4%
Frequent Physical Distress
12.3%
Current Asthma
10.9%
Diabetes
9.5%
Current Smoking
9%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 68.7%
Annual Checkup 72.3%

Other Measures

Lack of Health Insurance
7.4%
Coronary Heart Disease
5.5%
Stroke
2.9%

Nearby Healthcare 2 total

CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (1-5): a composite score across dozens of reported measures, not a single outcome guarantee for any patient. It isn't adjusted for patient case mix and isn't directly comparable across hospital types, a critical-access facility and a large teaching hospital aren't rated on the same measure set.

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
0
★★★★
1
★★★
0
★★
0
0
Average Rating
4/5
Total Hospitals
2
With ER
1
KADLEC REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
RICHLAND · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★☆

Climate

NOAA 1991-2020 Normals
Avg Temperature
54°F
Annual Rainfall
7.2"
Hot Months (>80°F)
2
Cold Months (<40°F)
3
41°
29°
Jan
1.0"
48°
30°
Feb
0.7"
57°
35°
Mar
0.6"
65°
41°
Apr
0.6"
74°
48°
May
0.6"
80°
54°
Jun
0.6"
89°
60°
Jul
0.2"
88°
59°
Aug
0.1"
79°
51°
Sep
0.3"
64°
42°
Oct
0.5"
49°
34°
Nov
0.9"
40°
28°
Dec
1.1"

Cost of Living

BEA 2024
100.1 Regional Price Parity

0.1% above national average

US avg
100.1

Metro area: Kennewick-Richland, WA (MSA)

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities via FRED. RPP of 100 = national average.

NFIP Flood Claim History

FEMA NFIP, county-level
15
Claims filed
$256K
Total paid out
A10
Most common flood zone

15 flood insurance claims have been filed in Benton County since 2016, with $256K paid out by the NFIP.

The largest single contributor was 2025-12-AtmosphericRiver, accounting for 11 claims.

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, via OpenFEMA. County-level data: individual claims are not attributed to a specific city or address by FEMA.

What alerts and safety updates affect Richland?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for Richland right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet WA-RICHLAND · Richland

Richland: 9 tagged alerts; lead category NWS weather alert.

  • VOL-LIGHT 9 on record
  • WX-LED 100% weather
  • DESK-MIX NOAA
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Albuquerque

Tagged alert mix: Richland

Published notices carrying this city slug or location tag

Value

What this shows 9 tagged notices on record for Richland.

Source Areazine publication corpus As of Live tagged feed

Nearest tagged-volume peer: Albuquerque, NM (10 tagged · Δ1)

Counts reflect published articles tagged to Richland; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Washington state hubs · Methodology

Similar alert activity elsewhere 4

Nearest published-notice counts on Areazine (9 tagged here), a feed-density peer set, not an ACS demographic match.

Keep reading

Frequently Asked Questions 9

What is the population of Richland, WA?
Richland, WA has a population of 54,248 people, located in Benton County, Washington.
What is the median household income in Richland?
The median household income in Richland, WA is $95,813 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 9%.
What is the median home value in Richland?
The median home value in Richland, WA is $436,700. Median rent is $1,468/month.
What are the top health concerns in Richland?
The top health indicators in Richland include Obesity (34%), Short Sleep Duration (29.8%), High Blood Pressure (28.5%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in Richland?
Richland has 2 hospitals with an average rating of 4/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in Richland?
The median age in Richland, WA is 36.4 years. 46.6% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What is the climate like in Richland?
Richland has an average annual temperature of 53.6°F and 7.2" of annual precipitation.
What is the cost of living in Richland?
The regional price parity for Richland is 100.079, meaning prices are 0.1% above the national average.
Has Richland had flood insurance claims?
Benton County, Washington has recorded 15 NFIP flood insurance claims since 2016, totaling $256K in payouts. This is county-level data: FEMA does not attribute individual claims to a specific city.

Cities nationwide with a comparable poverty or income figure 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for Richland, both outside Washington so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside WA (9% here).

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside WA ($95,813 here).

Compare Richland with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Places 8

What to do with Richland's numbers

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the Richland area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • A median income figure alone can mislead, cross-check it against the poverty rate for the fuller picture.
  • Compare Richland against Washington peers on any ranking lens. Explore Washington

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Benton County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-16.