ZIP code 98250

ZIP 98250 is a mid-size town in San Juan County, Washington, with 9,127 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #243 of 605 ranked by population — larger than 59% of them. The median age here is 55.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 98250 earn a median of $90,146 a year, 14.8% above the national figure of $78,538. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 9.1% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 98250 is valued at $745,700, 145.8% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,498 a month, 6.5% above the national figure, or roughly $17,976 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 8.3×, 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. 77.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 8.3× 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 55.1 puts ZIP 98250 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.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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.

ZIP 98250 is tabulated inside San Juan County, Washington, one of 9 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 605 across Washington. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 98250 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 98250 reports a median household income of $90,146, 14% above the $78,871 county median, and 11% above the $80,861 typical WA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $745,700, close to the county figure and 77% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,498 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Washington charges 6.5% statewide, and local governments overlapping 98250 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 98250 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.