IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Yelm, WA
Yelm is a big small town of 11,102 people in Thurston County, Washington. It's about 14 miles from Olympia, WA and 49 miles from Seattle, WA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 77°F and winter highs 45°F, with about 4 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $455k and rent runs about $2k a month.
11,102people
$455kTypical home
$1,626/moRent
77° / 45°Summer / winter
4"Snow
169Sunny days
170Rain/snow days
Is Yelm right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Big small town of 11,102
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,910 people per sq mi
- 49 mi to Seattle, WA
- 14 mi to Olympia, WA
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $455k (≈$2,871/mo)
- Median rent $1,626/mo
- Median household income $91k
- Property tax about 0.8% of value
- 4.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 77°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
- 170 days a year with rain or snow
- 4" of snow a year
- 1 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (258 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,433 per 100k)
People
- Median age 31
- 44% of households have kids
- 8% are 65 or older
- 28% have a college degree
- Very diverse community
- 8% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 36 min
- 4% walk or take transit to work
- 12 mi to OLM airport
- 38 mi to SEA (major hub)
- 8 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 79% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 2004
- 91% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 427 ft
- 11 mi to the ocean
- 128 mi to a big lake
- 2 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 54 mi to the nearest ski area
- 11 mi to the nearest campground
- 32 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 717 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 98 bars within 25 mi
- 324 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 1 music venue or club within 25 mi
- 49 museums within 25 mi
- 11 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 14 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 49% of Washington districts (reading)
- 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 16 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 17 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 4 congregations per 10k people
- 11 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Thurston County: D+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
- Low winter storm risk
- Low heat wave risk
- High volcano risk