Living in Kalama, WA
Kalama is a small town of 3,050 people in Cowlitz County, Washington. It's about 11 miles from Longview, WA and 34 miles from Portland, OR, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 78°F and winter highs 45°F, with about 2 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $472k and rent runs about $1k a month.
3,050people
$472kTypical home
$1,206/moRent
78° / 45°Summer / winter
2"Snow
169Sunny days
182Rain/snow days
Is Kalama right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Small town of 3,050
- Part of a metro area
- About 847 people per sq mi
- 34 mi to Portland, OR
- 11 mi to Longview, WA
- 7 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $472k (≈$2,973/mo)
- Median rent $1,206/mo
- Median household income $102k
- Property tax about 0.7% of value
- 2.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 78°F
- Winter highs around 45°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 53°F)
- 169 sunny days a year (59 totally clear)
- 196 cloudy days a year
- 66 of 90 winter days are gray
- 182 days a year with rain or snow
- 2" of snow a year
- 1 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- 1 day a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (124 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,111 per 100k)
People
- Median age 51
- 25% of households have kids
- 19% are 65 or older
- 19% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 1% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 27 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 32 mi to PDX airport
- 32 mi to PDX (major hub)
- 67 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 62% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 2002
- 91% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 387 ft
- 20 mi to the ocean
- 180 mi to a big lake
- 15 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 72 mi to the nearest ski area
- 12 mi to the nearest campground
- 9 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 193 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 22 bars within 25 mi
- 99 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 1 music venue or club within 25 mi
- 9 museums within 25 mi
- 4 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 11 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 37% of Washington districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 17 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 17 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 8 mi to the nearest vet
- 7 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 22 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Cowlitz County: R+20 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
- High volcano risk
Some of this place's Census numbers are blended with county figures because its survey sample is small.