Moving to
Graham.

All Graham data Compare Graham

35,079people live here $116,862median household income▲ 45% above US $2,095median rent per month▲ 48% above US $516,700median home value▲ 55% above US

Graham is an unincorporated community in Pierce 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 Graham

Graham is an unincorporated community in Washington with household incomes running above the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Graham deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, long average commutes, and larger class sizes than the national average.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Long commutes
High student-teacher ratio
Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Graham compares

Median household income

Graham$116,862

Washington avg$98,141

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Graham$2,095

Washington avg$1,760

US$1,413

Median home value

Graham$516,700

Washington avg$564,600

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Graham

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

To rent

$4,190

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $83,800 a year
37% of Graham renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$103,340

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $51,670
Homes cost 4.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 48% above US

$2,095/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,095 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $516,700. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $516,700 · 37% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

5.0% county unemployment

Unemployment in Pierce County is 5.0%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Pierce County (county-wide)

Safety

226 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Graham doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Pierce 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 1070/100k · Policed by Pierce County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting around▲ 65% above US

43 min average commute

Commutes run long, averaging 43 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. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 11% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

77%

Work from home

11%

Carpool

9.8%

Public transit

1.3%

Other

1.1%

Walk

0.3%

Climate

Summers are comfortable, with highs around 74°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 33°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 34% below US

24% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 24%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

10 public schools inside the boundary

There are 10 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Mount Rainier National Park (30 miles away). There are 7 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Graham'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 ($2,095/mo) equals 22% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget, people who dread long commutes, and anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Graham →·All Washington cities →