Cold desert
West Richland, Washington
Benton County, Washington · Population 17k · 413 ft elevation
Living in West Richland
West Richland has a cold desert climate: hot summers (July highs around 89°F) and chilly winters (January lows around 29°F).
Precipitation is very dry at about 7″ a year, and it sees only a dusting of snow (8″ a season).
Skies are sunny (66% of possible sunshine). It never gets truly muggy.
Air quality is good: a median AQI of 36, with about 2 unhealthy-air days in the latest year.
There is plenty to explore outdoors around West Richland: about 17% of the land within 30 miles is public (parks, national forest and the like), and the terrain rises and falls about 1,400 ft around town.
West Richland at a glance
- Population
- 17k
- Elevation
- 413 ft
- Average daily high
- 64°F39th percentile
- Average daily low
- 43°F36th percentile
- Annual precipitation
- 7″1th percentile
- Annual snowfall
- 8″43th percentile
- Sunshine hours per year
- 3,071 hrs74th percentile
- Median AQI
- 3616th percentile
- Median home value
- $404k73th percentile
- Median rent
- $1,577/mo71th percentile
- Median household income
- $118k84th percentile
- Property tax rate
- 0.88%43th percentile
- Top state income-tax rate
- 0.0%
- Sales tax (state + local)
- 9.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Homes with broadband
- 94%69th percentile
- Walkability index
- 8.550th percentile
- Average commute
- 25 min
- Math proficiency (8th grade)
- 46%51th percentile
- Reading proficiency (8th grade)
- 59%
- Violent crime rate
- 118 per 100k36th percentile
- Property crime rate
- 631 per 100k
- Overall natural-hazard risk
- 8742th percentile
- Outdoor access
- 8887th percentile
- Public land within 10 miles
- 16%
- Public land within 30 miles
- 17%
- Mountain relief within 30 miles
- 1,444 ft
Climate by month
| Month | High | Low | Precipitation | Snow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 41°F | 29°F | 1.0″ | 2.3″ | 106 hrs |
| Feb | 47°F | 30°F | 0.7″ | 1.3″ | 160 hrs |
| Mar | 57°F | 35°F | 0.6″ | 0.5″ | 219 hrs |
| Apr | 65°F | 41°F | 0.6″ | 0.1″ | 283 hrs |
| May | 74°F | 48°F | 0.6″ | — | 337 hrs |
| Jun | 80°F | 54°F | 0.6″ | — | 367 hrs |
| Jul | 89°F | 60°F | 0.2″ | — | 433 hrs |
| Aug | 88°F | 59°F | 0.1″ | — | 388 hrs |
| Sep | 79°F | 51°F | 0.3″ | — | 306 hrs |
| Oct | 64°F | 42°F | 0.5″ | 0.1″ | 234 hrs |
| Nov | 49°F | 34°F | 0.9″ | 1.1″ | 141 hrs |
| Dec | 40°F | 28°F | 1.1″ | 2.5″ | 96 hrs |
Near West Richland
- Richland, WA · 62k
- Benton City, WA · 3.6k
- Kennewick, WA · 84k
- Pasco, WA · 78k
- Finley, WA · 5.7k
- Prosser, WA · 6.2k
- Burbank, WA · 3.6k
- Grandview, WA · 11k
Largest places in Washington
- Seattle, WA · 741k
- Spokane, WA · 229k
- Tacoma, WA · 220k
- Vancouver, WA · 193k
- Bellevue, WA · 151k
- Kent, WA · 135k
- Everett, WA · 111k
- Spokane Valley, WA · 105k
Sources: NOAA climate normals, NASA POWER, EPA air quality, U.S. Census Bureau, FEMA, FBI, EPA walkability and EDFacts. Methodology