Moving to
Birch Bay.

10,837people live here $86,854median household incomeNear US average $477,200median home value▲ 43% above US

Birch Bay is an unincorporated community in Whatcom County, WA. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Birch Bay

Birch Bay is an unincorporated community in Washington with air quality that stays clean most of the year. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Birch Bay deals with home prices well above the national average, a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin, fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city, and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.

The good

Clean air

The not so good

High home prices
High rent burden for renters
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Birch Bay compares

Median household income

Birch Bay$86,854

Washington avg$98,141

US$80,734

Median home value

Birch Bay$477,200

Washington avg$564,600

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Birch Bay

Based on Birch Bay's median rent, home value and household income

To buy

$95,440

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $47,720
Homes cost 5.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Job market

4.4% county unemployment

Unemployment in Whatcom County is 4.4%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Whatcom County (county-wide)

Safety

117 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Birch Bay doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 472/100k · Policed by Whatcom County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

26 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 26.4 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 15% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

78%

Work from home

15%

Carpool

6.2%

Walk

0.6%

Public transit

0.2%

Climate

Summers are comfortable, with highs around 71°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 34°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 11% below US

32% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 32% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

0 public schools inside the boundary

No public school is located inside the boundary; students attend schools in the surrounding district.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is San Juan Island National Historical Park (32 miles away). There are 6 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Birch Bay's strongest point is air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are home prices well above the national average and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin. It tends to suit remote workers (15% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Birch Bay →·All Washington cities →