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Island County · Washington

ZIP code 98278

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 98278 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
2,178

ZCTA residents

Median income
—

Household, past 12 months

Median home
—

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
6.5%

Washington state rate

Quick answer

ZIP 98278 sits in Island County, Washington and is home to 2,178 people. Median household income is —, the median home is worth — and median gross rent is —. — of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6.5% (Washington state rate).

County
Island County

FIPS 53029

State
Washington (WA)

605 ZIPs covered

Area codes
Not published

No NANPA match for this ZIP

Metro area
Outside covered metros

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 98278

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
2,178ZIP 98278 residents
Median household income
—Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
—Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
—Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
22 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
—Owner-occupied households

ZIP 98278 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 98278 is a small town in Island County, Washington, with 2,178 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #359 of 605 ranked by population — larger than 40% of them. The median age here is 22 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. 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 ZIP 98278 earn a median of not published a year. 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 Poverty reaches an unpublished share of residents here.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 98278 is valued at not published, while median gross rent runs not published a month. The homeownership rate is not published. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

A median age of 22 means a large student or early-career population; income medians in places like this understate household resources, since many residents are supported from outside the address.

The Census withheld household income, home value, gross rent, poverty rate for ZIP 98278 because the sample was too thin to publish at this geography. Those values were suppressed at the source, not lost in our dataset, and we do not model a replacement. Everything else on this page comes straight from the ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year tables.

Reading ZIP 98278 in context

How 98278 sits inside Island County and Washington.

ZIP 98278 is tabulated inside Island County, Washington, one of 8 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 605 across Washington. Fewer than 2,500 people are counted here, so the ZIP behaves like a village delivery route rather than a neighbourhood. 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 98278 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 98278 reports a median household income of not published. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of not published. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at not published 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 98278 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 98278 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.

Sales tax in 98278

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
6.5%State base rate only
Tax on $100
$7Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$65Before any exemptions

Washington levies 6.5% statewide, and counties, cities and special districts inside this ZIP can add their own local rate on top. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
—Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
—Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
—20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
—Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 98278 compares

ZIP 98278 against the median ZIP in Island County and across Washington.

MeasureZIP 98278County medianState medianvs state
Median household income—$99,583$80,861—
Median home value—$600,300$421,200—
Median gross rent—$1,542$1,305—
Population2,1786,2664,632-53%

Medians are computed across the 8 ZIP areas in Island County and the 605 ZIP areas in Washington.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 605 Washington ZIP areas.

Income

Not published

—
Home value

Not published

—
Population

larger than 41% of 605 state ZIPs

#359

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Island County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Island County, Washington.

ZIP 98278 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 98278?
ZIP 98278 lies mostly in Island County, Washington. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 98278?
Washington charges 6.5% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
Is 98278 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs — a month, and the median home is worth — — — against the typical Washington ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 98278, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.