Living in Spokane, WA

Spokane's crime numbers hover right around the U.S. average. Violent crime index: 97. Property crime index: 191. The national baseline for both is 100, so you're looking at a city that's neither notably safe nor notably dangerous on paper. In practice, where you live within the city shifts the picture dramatically — a 10-minute drive can mean a completely different experience. Check local crime maps. Source: FBI UCR.

By most measures, yes. The median rent of $1,141/month against a median household income of $65,745/year works out to a 20.8% rent-to-income ratio. Financial planners generally want that number under 30%, so Spokane clears the bar with room to spare. You'll have breathing space for savings, car payments, and the occasional splurge. Numbers from Census ACS 2023.

Most people in Spokane are at work within 18 minutes — a pretty reasonable commute by American standards. The breakdown: 68.3% drive alone, 2.9% take public transit, and 13.8% work from home. Rush hour adds time, obviously, but the baseline is manageable.

Not particularly. The climate risk score is 23/100, which puts Spokane in the low-risk tier. Wildfire, Winter Storm, and Flood are the most relevant hazards, but none of them are frequent concerns. Standard insurance should have you covered. It's one less thing to worry about if you're comparing this city to higher-risk metros along the coast or in tornado alley. Data from FEMA disaster declarations and NOAA.

Mixed. The city-wide graduation rate is 84.0% and classrooms average 18 students per teacher. Some schools here are legitimately excellent — strong test scores, engaged communities, good resources. Others struggle. The gap between the best and worst is wider than you might expect. Do your homework on individual schools rather than relying on the city-wide number.

Good, overall. The median AQI sits at 42, which falls within the EPA's "Good" category, and Spokane logs 260 clean-air days annually. PM2.5 is the main pollutant. Occasional spikes happen — wildfire smoke, temperature inversions, or high-ozone days — but they're the exception, not the rule. Check AirNow.gov during allergy season or summer heat waves.

Roughly in the middle of the pack. Spokane's combined effective rate is about 10.0%, covering income, property, and sales taxes. The sales tax is 8.9%. You won't be shocked by your first tax bill, but you won't be celebrating either. Cross-state movers should compare their current and future take-home pay before making assumptions.

Everything on this page is built from public government sources: rent and income figures from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS 5-Year Estimates, 2023); commute and transportation data from Census ACS tables B08303 and B08006; crime rates from the FBI Uniform Crime Report; climate risk assessments using FEMA disaster declarations and NOAA storm records; air quality measurements from the EPA's Air Quality System database; school data from the National Center for Education Statistics. We refresh each dataset monthly through an automated pipeline and cross-check for anomalies. No surveys, no user-submitted guesses — just official federal data presented in a way that's actually useful for people researching a move.