Kennewick, WA
Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Kennewick ranks 60th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 60th for income. A household earns $89,573 a year while median rent runs $1,360/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 0% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is air quality (23rd of 300), while job market is the soft spot (266th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 177th and home prices 239th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Kennewick, your take-home is worth about $61,265 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 60th of 300↑31.2%$89,573
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 222nd of 300100 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $89,502
- Per-capita income
- $39,057
- Full-time pay
- $48,564
Housing
- Median rent
- 177th of 300↑32.4%$1,360/mo
- Home value
- 239th of 300↑65.1%$442,000
- Property tax
- $3,340/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 9.43%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 266th of 3006.2%
- Bachelor's+
- 196th of 30030.6%
- Avg commute
- 60th of 30021.6 min
People
- Population
- 319,428
- Population change
- +6.6%
- Median age
- 35.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 15.4%
- Broadband
- 92.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 23rd of 30036
- Natural-hazard loss
- 183rd of 300$14/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 190th of 30019.7%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 13.4%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Home prices
- – Job market
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — pasco tri cities ap.
What jobs pay in Kennewick
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $175,970
- Financial managers
- $168,000
- Pharmacists
- $158,130
- Lawyers
- $135,590
- General & operations managers
- $130,460
- Software developers
- $127,800
- Civil engineers
- $121,370
- Registered nurses
- $106,410
- Police officers
- $104,570
- Secondary school teachers
- $102,600
- Elementary school teachers
- $100,380
- Electricians
- $99,850
- Plumbers
- $97,130
- Accountants & auditors
- $93,280
- Web developers
- $91,870
- Carpenters
- $64,320
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $62,520
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $58,690
- Construction laborers
- $54,750
- Waiters & waitresses
- $51,460
- Customer service reps
- $45,380
- Janitors
- $44,680
- Retail salespersons
- $37,600
- Cashiers
- $36,610
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Kennewick metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Washington are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Oregon1,504
- California1,081
- Idaho446
- Wyoming329
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Kennewick
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Kennewick metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Kennewick metro?
- Median gross rent across the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area is $1,360 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Kennewick.
- What is the median household income in the Kennewick metro?
- A typical household in the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area earns $89,573 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Kennewick expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area runs about 0% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Kennewick metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $89,502 (versus its face value of $89,573). CityLedger rates the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Kennewick metro?
- The median home value across the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area is $442,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Kennewick metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Kennewick-Richland, WA Metro Area is 6.2% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).