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Moving to
Camano.
Camano is an unincorporated community in Island 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 Camano
Camano is an unincorporated community in Washington with household incomes running above the national average and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Camano deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, long average commutes, and fewer dining and entertainment options than a bigger city.
The good
- Higher-than-average incomes
- Average class sizes
The not so good
- Rent well above the national average
- High home prices
- Long commutes
- Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
How Camano compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Camano
Based on Camano's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,792
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $75,840 a year
- 34% of Camano renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$134,160
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $67,080
- Homes cost 6.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 34% above US
$1,896/mo median rent
Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,896 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices are steep, with a median around $670,800. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.
Median home value $670,800 · 34% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
4.6% county unemployment
Unemployment in Island County is 4.6%, 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.
Island County (county-wide)
Safety
59 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Camano doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Island 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 458/100k · Policed by Island County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting around▲ 62% above US
42 min average commute
Commutes run long, averaging 42 minutes, and that's just the average, meaning a lot of people are doing significantly more. This isn't a city where living far from the office is a comfortable bet. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 20% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are comfortable, with highs around 69°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 36°F.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforceNear US average
35% bachelor's degree or higher
Education levels run about average, with 35% 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
2 public schools inside the boundary
There are 2 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve (10 miles away). There are 7 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Camano's strongest point is household incomes running above the national average; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,896/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (20% of workers here already work from home). It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and people who dread long commutes.
Other places near Camano
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