IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Kelso, WA
Kelso is a big small town of 12,684 people in Cowlitz County, Washington. It's about 4 miles from Longview, WA and 42 miles from Portland, OR, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 79°F and winter highs 48°F, with about 3 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $338k and rent runs about $1k a month.
12,684people
$338kTypical home
$1,220/moRent
79° / 48°Summer / winter
3"Snow
169Sunny days
192Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 12,684
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,559 people per sq mi
- 42 mi to Portland, OR
- 4 mi to Longview, WA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $338k (≈$2,129/mo)
- Median rent $1,220/mo
- Median household income $67k
- Property tax about 0.9% of value
- 7.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 79°F
- Winter highs around 48°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
- 192 days a year with rain or snow
- 3" of snow a year
- 1 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Very low violent crime (125 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,489 per 100k)
People
- Median age 40
- 27% of households have kids
- 17% are 65 or older
- 13% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 5% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 23 min
- 2% walk or take transit to work
- 39 mi to PDX airport
- 39 mi to PDX (major hub)
- 61 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 67% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1963
- 91% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 66 ft
- 15 mi to the ocean
- 177 mi to a big lake
- 21 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 78 mi to the nearest ski area
- 13 mi to the nearest campground
- 6 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 123 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 19 bars within 25 mi
- 55 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 9 museums within 25 mi
- 3 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 11 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 33% of Washington districts (reading)
- 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 10 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 10 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 2 mi to the nearest vet
- Dog park in town
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 29 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