Twin Lakes Panorama by Andy Porter, Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest (31296255953) · Photo: U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Whatcom County, Washington
230,503 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Whatcom County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Twin Lakes Panorama by Andy Porter, Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest (31296255953) · Photo: U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
92,173
▼ 0.8%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,384
▲ 4.1%
vs. a year ago · $34.60/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
3.6%
▼ 0.8 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$81,784
12.9%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+4.1%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 104.0 | Rent 100.2 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 108.7 | Rent 100.7 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 104.6 | Rent 100.9 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 105.9 | Rent 102.1 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 110.7 | Rent 102.9 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 114.0 | Rent 103.3 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 111.6 | Rent 104.6 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 111.1 | Rent 104.5 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 121.5 | Rent 104.8 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 118.7 | Rent 105.6 |
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% | 5.0% |
| February | 5.5% | 5.2% | 5.1% |
| March | 4.7% | 4.3% | 4.8% |
| April | 3.9% | 3.7% | 4.8% |
| May | 4.3% | 4.0% | 4.5% |
| June | 3.8% | 3.6% | 4.1% |
| July | 4.7% | 4.4% | 3.6% |
| August | 4.7% | 4.5% | — |
| September | 3.7% | 3.9% | — |
| October | 4.0% | — | — |
| November | 4.2% | 4.7% | — |
| December | 4.3% | 5.1% | — |
3.6%
▼ 0.8 pts
vs. July 2025
4,113
unemployed of a 113,238 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Bellingham metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$27.80
Median$60.18
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 | $65.69/hr | 4,020 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $49.89/hr | 5,010 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $48.70/hr | 1,990 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $48.62/hr | 1,310 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $41.90/hr | 970 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $40.63/hr | 2,080 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $40.26/hr | 460 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $39.57/hr | 5,690 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $36.50/hr | 6,080 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $31.42/hr | 1,900 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $31.32/hr | 3,600 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $31.12/hr | 6,040 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $26.61/hr | 1,080 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $24.88/hr | 10,380 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $23.50/hr | 6,360 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $23.15/hr | 6,710 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $22.86/hr | 340 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $22.82/hr | 4,710 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $21.72/hr | 2,010 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $21.05/hr | 8,720 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $20.87/hr | 3,020 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $20.81/hr | 8,900 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 Bellingham median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Bellingham metro$27.80
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +36%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays more by +18%
- Construction & extractionPays more by +1%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −2%
- Education & libraryPays less by −3%
- Food servicePays less by −3%
- Community & social servicePays less by −3%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −4%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −5%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −5%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −5%
- Installation & repairPays less by −6%
- SciencePays less by −7%
- SalesPays less by −8%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −9%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −10%
- ProductionPays less by −12%
- ManagementPays less by −15%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −15%
- Business & financePays less by −16%
- LegalPays less by −22%
- Computer & mathPays less by −26%
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
Construction & extraction
1.6× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Legal
0.6× the U.S. share
- Construction & extraction1.6×
- Farming, fishing & forestry1.3×
- Production1.3×
- Community & social service1.2×
- Education & library1.1×
- Cleaning & grounds1.1×
- Science1.1×
- Sales1.1×
- Food service1.1×
- Personal care & service1.1×
- Installation & repair1.0×
- Healthcare support1.0×
- Office & admin support1.0×
- Protective service0.9×
- Business & finance0.9×
- Arts, media & sports0.9×
- Healthcare practitioners0.9×
- Architecture & engineering0.8×
- Transportation & moving0.8×
- Computer & math0.6×
- Management0.6×
- Legal0.6×
Key takeaways
What this means for Whatcom County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,384, up 4.1% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Office & admin support, food service and sales are 31% of jobs; all have median pay under $25/hr.
Unemployment is falling
3.6% in July 2026, 0.8 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, Bellingham, 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.