IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Birch Bay, WA
Birch Bay is a big small town of 10,837 people in Whatcom County, Washington. It's about 17 miles from Bellingham, WA and 92 miles from Seattle, WA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 73°F and winter highs 45°F, with about 9 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $477k and rent runs about $1k a month.
10,837people
$477kTypical home
$1,222/moRent
73° / 45°Summer / winter
9"Snow
170Sunny days
163Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 10,837
- Part of a metro area
- About 634 people per sq mi
- 92 mi to Seattle, WA
- 17 mi to Bellingham, WA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $477k (≈$3,009/mo)
- Median rent $1,222/mo
- Median household income $87k
- Property tax about 0.7% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 73°F
- Winter highs around 45°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 55°F)
- 170 sunny days a year (64 totally clear)
- 195 cloudy days a year
- 69 of 90 winter days are gray
- 163 days a year with rain or snow
- 9" of snow a year
- 3 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (184 per 100k), county-wide
- About average property crime (1,751 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 45
- 28% of households have kids
- 24% are 65 or older
- 32% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 4% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 27 min
- 1% walk or take transit to work
- 13 mi to BLI airport
- 104 mi to SEA (major hub)
- 18 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 75% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1990
- 89% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation -3 ft
- Right on the coast
- 104 mi to a big lake
- 16 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 49 mi to the nearest ski area
- 2 mi to the nearest campground
- 15 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 223 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 46 bars within 25 mi
- 83 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 4 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 16 museums within 25 mi
- 14 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 14 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 28% of Washington districts (reading)
- 4 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 30 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 16 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 9 mi to the nearest vet
- 5 mi to the nearest dog park
- 6 congregations per 10k people
- 17 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Whatcom County: D+25 in 2024
- Washington: D+18 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Very low tornado risk
- Very low wildfire risk
- High earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- Low volcano risk