Sunset - heading west to Chelan - Flickr - brewbooks · Photo: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Chelan County, Washington
80,172 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Chelan County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Sunset - heading west to Chelan - Flickr - brewbooks · Photo: brewbooks from near Seattle, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
41,633
▲ 0.1%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,169
▲ 3.3%
vs. a year ago · $29.23/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
3.0%
▼ 0.5 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$82,381
8.3%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+3.3%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 105.2 | Rent 100.0 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 106.3 | Rent 101.1 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 107.5 | Rent 102.3 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 107.3 | Rent 102.9 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 109.8 | Rent 103.6 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 110.2 | Rent 103.8 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 111.0 | Rent 102.6 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 108.2 | Rent 103.2 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 116.5 | Rent 103.5 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 113.8 | Rent 103.2 |
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 | 6.0% | 5.6% | 5.7% |
| February | 6.3% | 6.2% | 5.8% |
| March | 5.3% | 5.0% | 5.2% |
| April | 4.1% | 4.1% | 4.9% |
| May | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.6% |
| June | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.6% |
| July | 4.0% | 3.5% | 3.0% |
| August | 4.8% | 3.9% | — |
| September | 3.4% | 3.3% | — |
| October | 3.7% | — | — |
| November | 4.5% | 4.8% | — |
| December | 5.2% | 5.6% | — |
3.0%
▼ 0.5 pts
vs. July 2025
1,378
unemployed of a 45,372 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Wenatchee metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$23.70
Median$52.81
90th
Jobs and pay by occupation group
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Management Occupations | $62.29/hr | 1,860 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $50.15/hr | 3,340 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $47.12/hr | 580 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $45.78/hr | 800 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $41.03/hr | 180 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $39.18/hr | 2,210 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $36.73/hr | 720 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $31.76/hr | 3,000 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $30.98/hr | 740 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $30.67/hr | 890 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $29.22/hr | 2,490 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $29.10/hr | 3,030 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $23.85/hr | 5,200 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $23.58/hr | 560 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $22.95/hr | 2,460 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $22.63/hr | 2,390 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $20.69/hr | 1,020 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $20.63/hr | 5,500 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $19.56/hr | 2,330 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $19.35/hr | 4,810 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $19.34/hr | 2,260 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $19.09/hr | 4,850 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 Wenatchee median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Wenatchee metro$23.70
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +3%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays more by +1%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −1%
- Food servicePays less by −4%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −4%
- Community & social servicePays less by −5%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −9%
- Education & libraryPays less by −9%
- Installation & repairPays less by −12%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −12%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −12%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −13%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −13%
- ProductionPays less by −15%
- SalesPays less by −16%
- Business & financePays less by −17%
- SciencePays less by −19%
- ManagementPays less by −19%
- LegalPays less by −20%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −20%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −24%
- Computer & mathPays less by −30%
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
16.2× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Legal
0.4× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry16.2×
- Cleaning & grounds1.5×
- Science1.5×
- Construction & extraction1.4×
- Installation & repair1.2×
- Food service1.2×
- Sales1.1×
- Transportation & moving1.1×
- Healthcare practitioners1.0×
- Education & library1.0×
- Personal care & service0.9×
- Healthcare support0.9×
- Office & admin support0.9×
- Community & social service0.8×
- Production0.8×
- Arts, media & sports0.8×
- Protective service0.7×
- Architecture & engineering0.7×
- Business & finance0.6×
- Management0.5×
- Computer & math0.5×
- Legal0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for Chelan County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,169, up 3.3% from a year ago.
Where most people work
Food service, office & admin support and sales are 30% of jobs, with median pay of $20.63, $23.85, $19.09 an hour.
Unemployment is falling
3.0% in July 2026, 0.5 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, Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, 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.