View from ISS Expedition 72, Capitol State Forest, Olympia, Thurston County, Washington · Photo: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS072&roll=E&frame=65443 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Thurston County, Washington
299,067 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Thurston County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
View from ISS Expedition 72, Capitol State Forest, Olympia, Thurston County, Washington · Photo: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS072&roll=E&frame=65443 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
128,332
▼ 0.7%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,507
▲ 3.6%
vs. a year ago · $37.67/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
3.5%
▼ 0.9 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$96,563
9.5%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+3.6%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 100.8 | Rent 100.8 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 104.6 | Rent 102.1 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 103.0 | Rent 102.2 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 104.3 | Rent 102.4 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 106.6 | Rent 103.1 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 109.8 | Rent 103.8 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 108.5 | Rent 105.0 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 111.5 | Rent 106.5 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 113.0 | Rent 107.4 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 113.8 | Rent 107.9 |
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 | 5.0% | 4.6% | 4.9% |
| February | 5.5% | 5.2% | 5.0% |
| March | 4.9% | 4.4% | 4.7% |
| April | 4.0% | 3.9% | 4.7% |
| May | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.5% |
| June | 3.7% | 3.6% | 4.1% |
| July | 4.6% | 4.4% | 3.5% |
| August | 4.6% | 4.6% | — |
| September | 3.7% | 3.9% | — |
| October | 4.0% | — | — |
| November | 4.3% | 4.7% | — |
| December | 4.5% | 5.0% | — |
3.5%
▼ 0.9 pts
vs. July 2025
4,989
unemployed of a 142,133 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Olympia metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$29.79
Median$60.60
90th
Jobs and pay by occupation group
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Management Occupations | $62.63/hr | 8,340 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $52.81/hr | 7,680 jobs |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $49.48/hr | 6,410 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $48.01/hr | 2,020 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $47.13/hr | 1,620 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $43.94/hr | 3,430 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $39.95/hr | 14,550 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $35.58/hr | 3,030 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $35.03/hr | 3,840 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $33.91/hr | 4,600 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $33.60/hr | 2,190 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $31.26/hr | 4,140 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $28.44/hr | 7,470 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $26.05/hr | 15,820 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $23.61/hr | 390 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $23.50/hr | 2,990 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $22.93/hr | 9,220 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $22.54/hr | 6,360 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $21.95/hr | 2,900 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $21.41/hr | 2,980 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $21.09/hr | 10,070 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $18.69/hr | 10,250 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 Olympia median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Olympia metro$29.79
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays more by +22%
- Protective servicePays more by +19%
- Arts, media & sportsPays more by +8%
- Community & social servicePays more by +8%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −3%
- SciencePays less by −3%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −3%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −3%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −4%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −5%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −6%
- Installation & repairPays less by −6%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −7%
- SalesPays less by −8%
- LegalPays less by −8%
- Education & libraryPays less by −11%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −11%
- ProductionPays less by −12%
- Food servicePays less by −13%
- Business & financePays less by −15%
- ManagementPays less by −19%
- Computer & mathPays less by −20%
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
Science
2.8× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Production
0.4× the U.S. share
- Science2.8×
- Computer & math1.7×
- Community & social service1.7×
- Business & finance1.6×
- Legal1.5×
- Arts, media & sports1.3×
- Office & admin support1.1×
- Farming, fishing & forestry1.1×
- Personal care & service1.1×
- Education & library1.0×
- Protective service1.0×
- Healthcare support1.0×
- Architecture & engineering0.9×
- Sales0.9×
- Management0.9×
- Food service0.9×
- Construction & extraction0.8×
- Installation & repair0.8×
- Transportation & moving0.8×
- Healthcare practitioners0.8×
- Cleaning & grounds0.8×
- Production0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for Thurston County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,507, up 3.6% from a year ago.
Where most people work
Office & admin support, business & finance and food service are 31% of jobs, with median pay of $26.05, $39.95, $18.69 an hour.
Unemployment is falling
3.5% in July 2026, 0.9 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, Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA metro area) · 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.