Badger Canyon · Photo: DJ Cane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Benton County, Washington
212,905 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Benton County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Badger Canyon · Photo: DJ Cane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
96,349
▲ 0.0%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,480
▲ 4.2%
vs. a year ago · $37.00/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
3.7%
▼ 0.6 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$89,874
11.0%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+4.2%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 102.2 | Rent 101.4 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 107.0 | Rent 101.5 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 102.6 | Rent 101.1 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 104.8 | Rent 102.1 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 109.1 | Rent 103.2 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 110.5 | Rent 103.8 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 109.0 | Rent 104.6 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 109.8 | Rent 105.7 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 113.7 | Rent 105.8 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 115.1 | Rent 106.1 |
Unemployment, year over year
Not seasonally adjusted, so each year gets its own line. A line above last year’s is the real signal. October 2025 was not published.
| Month | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 5.8% | 5.3% | 5.5% |
| February | 6.2% | 5.9% | 5.6% |
| March | 5.3% | 4.9% | 5.2% |
| April | 4.3% | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| May | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.8% |
| June | 3.9% | 3.7% | 4.2% |
| July | 4.5% | 4.3% | 3.7% |
| August | 4.6% | 4.5% | — |
| September | 3.7% | 3.8% | — |
| October | 4.0% | — | — |
| November | 4.4% | 5.0% | — |
| December | 5.2% | 5.6% | — |
3.7%
▼ 0.6 pts
vs. July 2025
3,931
unemployed of a 105,206 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Kennewick metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$27.54
Median$61.87
90th
The biggest job groups pay the least
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Management Occupations | $74.45/hr | 5,190 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $59.69/hr | 4,100 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $54.73/hr | 3,000 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $51.20/hr | 3,290 jobs |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $49.81/hr | 7,020 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $46.39/hr | 7,480 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $40.48/hr | 600 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $38.25/hr | 2,600 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $36.53/hr | 9,290 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $31.68/hr | 2,140 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $30.97/hr | 5,390 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $30.42/hr | 8,590 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $29.84/hr | 1,160 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $24.78/hr | 13,530 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $22.98/hr | 7,960 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $22.44/hr | 6,250 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $22.26/hr | 11,880 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $21.80/hr | 2,040 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $21.43/hr | 3,640 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $19.39/hr | 3,150 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $19.20/hr | 10,350 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $18.69/hr | 10,830 jobs |
What different jobs pay
Hourly pay range for each occupation group: 10th–90th percentile, middle half and median.
Pay compared with Washington and the U.S.
Median hourly wage for all occupations, then each group’s Kennewick median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Kennewick metro$27.54
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +28%
- SciencePays more by +13%
- Architecture & engineeringPays more by +10%
- Construction & extractionPays more by +1%
- Farming, fishing & forestryAbout the same: 0%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −1%
- Business & financePays less by −2%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −3%
- Community & social servicePays less by −3%
- ManagementPays less by −3%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −4%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −4%
- Education & libraryPays less by −5%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −5%
- Installation & repairPays less by −7%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −8%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −9%
- Food servicePays less by −13%
- ProductionPays less by −16%
- SalesPays less by −16%
- Computer & mathPays less by −17%
- LegalPays less by −21%
What sets local work apart?
Every occupation group’s share of local jobs compared with its U.S. share (location quotient). 2× means twice as common here; 0.5× means half as common.
Most concentrated here
Farming, fishing & forestry
8.7× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Legal
0.6× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry8.7×
- Science2.7×
- Architecture & engineering1.9×
- Construction & extraction1.7×
- Healthcare support1.2×
- Education & library1.1×
- Installation & repair1.1×
- Transportation & moving1.0×
- Community & social service1.0×
- Cleaning & grounds1.0×
- Food service0.9×
- Sales0.9×
- Office & admin support0.9×
- Production0.9×
- Healthcare practitioners0.9×
- Business & finance0.8×
- Protective service0.8×
- Personal care & service0.8×
- Computer & math0.7×
- Arts, media & sports0.7×
- Management0.6×
- Legal0.6×
Key takeaways
What this means for Benton County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,480, up 4.2% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Office & admin support, transportation & moving and food service are 28% of jobs; all have median pay under $25/hr.
Unemployment is falling
3.7% in July 2026, 0.6 points below a year earlier.
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (through July 2026) · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (Q1 2026) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025, Kennewick-Richland, WA metro area, which covers 2 counties; BLS doesn’t publish occupational wages for single counties) · Census ACS 2024 · Range Lab RST listings. The housing wage follows the National Low Income Housing Coalition method: rent × 12 ÷ 0.30 ÷ 2,080 hours. About the data.