Living in Sudden Valley, WA
Sudden Valley is a big small town of 6,084 people in Whatcom County, Washington. It's about 6 miles from Bellingham, WA and 76 miles from Seattle, WA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 72°F and winter highs 45°F, with about 5 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $489k and rent runs about $2k a month.
6,084people
$489kTypical home
$1,816/moRent
72° / 45°Summer / winter
5"Snow
170Sunny days
172Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 6,084
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,422 people per sq mi
- 76 mi to Seattle, WA
- 6 mi to Bellingham, WA
- 6 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $489k (≈$3,085/mo)
- Median rent $1,816/mo
- Median household income $101k
- Property tax about 0.7% of value
- 5.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 72°F
- Winter highs around 45°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 54°F)
- 170 sunny days a year (64 totally clear)
- 195 cloudy days a year
- 69 of 90 winter days are gray
- 172 days a year with rain or snow
- 5" of snow a year
- 2 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 49
- 26% of households have kids
- 25% are 65 or older
- 48% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 6% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 30 min
- 2% walk or take transit to work
- 10 mi to BLI airport
- 88 mi to SEA (major hub)
- 8 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 90% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1991
- 98% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Mountain country
- Elevation 712 ft
- 7 mi to the ocean
- 82 mi to a big lake
- Trailhead in town
- 32 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 19 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 341 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 50 bars within 25 mi
- 138 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 4 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 23 museums within 25 mi
- 13 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 6 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 27% of Washington districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 15 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 8 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 4 mi to the nearest vet
- Dog park in town
- 6 congregations per 10k people
- 7 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