Yakima R 8027 · Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Yakima County, Washington
257,152 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Yakima County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Yakima R 8027 · Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
109,384
▲ 0.0%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,041
▲ 2.7%
vs. a year ago · $26.02/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
4.4%
▼ 0.8 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$70,656
15.5%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+2.7%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 104.0 | Rent 100.4 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 102.3 | Rent 101.7 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 101.4 | Rent 103.6 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 104.1 | Rent 104.1 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 109.8 | Rent 104.7 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 105.6 | Rent 105.4 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 104.5 | Rent 106.2 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 107.4 | Rent 107.2 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 113.1 | Rent 108.4 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 108.4 | Rent 109.1 |
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 | 7.8% | 7.4% | 7.8% |
| February | 8.0% | 7.6% | 7.7% |
| March | 6.9% | 6.5% | 6.9% |
| April | 5.6% | 5.6% | 6.5% |
| May | 5.8% | 5.6% | 5.9% |
| June | 4.6% | 4.4% | 4.9% |
| July | 5.3% | 5.2% | 4.4% |
| August | 5.8% | 5.5% | — |
| September | 4.3% | 4.2% | — |
| October | 4.5% | — | — |
| November | 5.8% | 6.0% | — |
| December | 7.3% | 7.4% | — |
4.4%
▼ 0.8 pts
vs. July 2025
5,721
unemployed of a 129,174 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Yakima metro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$22.99
Median$49.01
90th
Jobs and pay by occupation group
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Management Occupations | $63.31/hr | 3,030 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $48.99/hr | 5,010 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $45.81/hr | 470 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $42.69/hr | 640 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $41.32/hr | 950 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $36.73/hr | 3,590 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $36.15/hr | 900 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $30.91/hr | 2,060 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $29.70/hr | 3,540 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $29.47/hr | 2,610 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $29.33/hr | 7,730 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $28.57/hr | 3,970 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $24.14/hr | 730 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $23.60/hr | 10,220 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $22.81/hr | 5,840 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $21.45/hr | 7,900 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $20.98/hr | 10,950 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $20.83/hr | 1,450 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $19.04/hr | 2,980 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $18.63/hr | 7,980 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $18.49/hr | 6,320 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $17.97/hr | 8,140 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 Yakima median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Yakima metro$22.99
- Washington$30.28
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +4%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays less by −5%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −6%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −8%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −8%
- Education & libraryPays less by −8%
- Community & social servicePays less by −9%
- LegalPays less by −11%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −13%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −13%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −14%
- Installation & repairPays less by −14%
- ProductionPays less by −14%
- Food servicePays less by −16%
- ManagementPays less by −18%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −18%
- SalesPays less by −18%
- SciencePays less by −20%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −21%
- Business & financePays less by −22%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −23%
- Computer & mathPays less by −37%
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
23.3× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Computer & math
0.3× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry23.3×
- Healthcare support1.6×
- Community & social service1.6×
- Education & library1.4×
- Transportation & moving1.3×
- Production1.1×
- Installation & repair1.1×
- Cleaning & grounds1.1×
- Science1.0×
- Sales0.9×
- Food service0.9×
- Office & admin support0.9×
- Construction & extraction0.9×
- Protective service0.9×
- Healthcare practitioners0.8×
- Personal care & service0.7×
- Legal0.6×
- Arts, media & sports0.6×
- Business & finance0.6×
- Management0.4×
- Architecture & engineering0.4×
- Computer & math0.3×
Key takeaways
What this means for Yakima County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,041, up 2.7% from a year ago.
Where most people work
Transportation & moving, office & admin support and food service are 30% of jobs, with median pay of $20.98, $23.60, $17.97 an hour.
Unemployment is falling
4.4% 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, Yakima, 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.