Metaline Falls, WA population, income and ZIP codes

Metaline Falls town is a very small community in Washington, with 288 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #528 of 639 ranked by population — larger than 17% of them. The median age here is 58.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Metaline Falls town earn a median of $40,179 a year, 48.8% below the national figure of $78,538 and 56% below the $90,592 median for the 393 Washington cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 5.9% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Metaline Falls town is valued at $291,700, 3.9% below the national figure and 38% below the $468,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $673 a month, 52.1% below the national figure, or roughly $8,076 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20.1% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 7.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 42.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 7.3× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 58.1 puts Metaline Falls town well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.