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An editorial illustration of Carnation, Washington
King County · Washington

Carnation, WA

Carnation’s local economy combines schools, small manufacturing, and countryside tourism.

Population
2,415
12% more from 2021 to 2026
Family households
—
±18 points at 90% confidence · too uncertain for ranking or interpretation
Local jobs
390
32% fewer from 2018 to 2023
Median income
$152,763
±$21,049 at 90% confidence
City overview

The forces shaping Carnation now.

01
The employers behind the economy

Carnation’s local economy combines schools, small manufacturing, and countryside tourism.

Carnation contains 390 workplace jobs. Hospitality accounts for 22% of them. Construction / Real Estate is next at 16%.

The city names the school district, Remlinger Farms, and several small manufacturers as its principal job anchors. With limited highway access and more homes than jobs, Carnation is betting that farms, trails, concerts, and a stronger downtown can turn regional visitors into local customers without relying on a large industrial campus.

Workplace jobs: 2023
02
The commercial pulse

Carnation’s taxable sales rose 18% to $85.4M.

Taxable sales totaled $85.4M, 18% higher than the previous year. Retail trade produced 33% of that total.

Carnation’s increase can support city revenue and storefront demand, but inflation or a one-time project may explain part of the $85.4M total. Another year will clarify it.

Washington taxable sales, 2024
03
The commute that shapes the city

Seattle matters more to Carnation’s workday than its own city line does.

22% of observed resident job destinations are in Seattle, followed by Redmond at 19%.

Current GTFS schedules 78 weekday stop departures at 6 stops inside Carnation; that supply still needs to be tested against the route to Seattle, the largest outside job destination. Schedule supply is not ridership.

Workplace flows: 2023 · commute modes: ACS 2024
People

Who lives here—and which households shape demand?

2,415 residents are counted in the latest official state estimate, 12% more than in 2021. Survey measures appear here only when their uncertainty is small enough to describe the city confidently.

Average household size
3.1

±0.2 people at 90% confidence

Median age
36.8

±2.5 years at 90% confidence

Living alone
10%

±4 points at 90% confidence

Below poverty line
2%

Income alone does not describe wealth or local costs. ±1 points at 90% confidence

Population composition

Who lives here

Estimated share of all Carnation residents. Each percentage uses the city’s total population as its denominator.

White, non-Hispanic72% ±17 pts
Hispanic / Latino, any race13% ±7 pts
Two or more races, non-Hispanic5.2% ±3 pts
Black, non-Hispanic4.5% ±6 pts
Asian Indian2.9% ±2 pts
Other Southeast Asian1.0% ±2 pts
Chinese, except Taiwanese0.4% ±0.6 pts
American Indian / Alaska Native, non-Hispanic0.3% ±0.5 pts
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic0.0% ±0.5 pts
Another race, non-Hispanic0.0% ±0.5 pts

0% published estimate: Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Okinawan, Taiwanese, Other East Asian, Burmese, Cambodian, Filipino, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Thai, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Pakistani, Sikh, Sri Lankan, Other South Asian, Afghan, Kazakh, Uzbek, Other Central Asian, Other Asian, specified, Other Asian, not specified, Two or more Asian groups. Zero is not proof that no residents identify with that group.

Some ranges are wide, which is common for smaller populations. Treat small differences as uncertain rather than as a precise ordering.

ACS 2020–2024 · 5-year estimates
Dataset
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates · tables B03002 and B02015
Period
2020–2024
Geography
Carnation Census place
Definition
Race and Hispanic/Latino origin are self-reported Census concepts. Hispanic/Latino may be of any race; the broad display uses non-Hispanic race categories plus Hispanic/Latino of any race.
Method
Every percentage is shown with its 90% margin of error. Detailed Asian estimates use the Asian-alone universe and are divided by the city population for display.
Open the official source ↗
Work

What powers the local economy—and how dependent is it?

Hospitality accounts for 22% of jobs located in Carnation. The city’s job base changed −40% between 2010 and 2023.

Jobs by sector

Workplace jobs inside the city—not the industries of residents who commute elsewhere.

Hospitality22%
Construction / Real Estate16%
Healthcare & Social Assistance16%
Information (partial technology proxy)13%
Education (includes academia/research)9%

Verified employer anchors

Primary employers and economic anchors identified by the city; no headcounts or ranking · Current or recent profile · 2024 comprehensive plan. The stated employer vintage is within the current two-year publication window.

The city names the school district, Remlinger Farms, and several small manufacturers as its principal job anchors. With limited highway access and more homes than jobs, Carnation is betting that farms, trails, concerts, and a stronger downtown can turn regional visitors into local customers without relying on a large industrial campus.

Riverview School DistrictHeadcount not published locally
Remlinger FarmsHeadcount not published locally
Local light-industrial manufacturersIndividual firms not listed

City of Carnation Comprehensive Plan land-use element ↗. Headcounts change faster than Census employment totals.

Housing

What kinds of homes exist—and where is pressure showing?

The firmer current signal is construction intent: 60 homes were authorized in 2025, versus a recent pace of about 54 per year.

Home value profile

What owner-occupied homes are worth

Owner estimates from the 2020–2024 American Community Survey—not listings, recorded sales, or appraisals. The final Census band is open-ended: $2 million and above.

Median estimate$875k±41671.0 at 90% confidence
Middle half of homes$678k–$1.1MLower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration1%≈9 homes · estimated at $2M+
Under $500k6%
$500–749k27%
$750–999k35%
$1–1.49M30%
$1.5–1.99M1%
$2M+1%

These estimates are useful as a distribution, but the survey intervals are too wide to rank Carnation or identify one definitive value range.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year tables B25075–B25078. Values cover owner-occupied homes only and do not measure current asking prices or recent purchase prices.

The housing mix we can estimate confidently

This describes the existing stock. It does not imply that one building type is preferable.

Other1%
Homes authorized, 2025
60

Permit authorizations—not construction starts or completed homes.

Residential buildings, 2025
60

One building can contain one home or many housing units.

2023–2025 annual pace
54 homes

Average housing units authorized per year across the latest three final annual estimates.

Recent pace vs prior 3 years
+212%

2023–2025 average compared with 2020–2022.

Permit activity: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, final annual estimate for 2025. Housing units authorized are not starts or completions.

Mobility

Where do residents need to go—and who has a real alternative to driving?

Current transit schedules include 6 stops and 78 weekday stop departures inside Carnation. The 2020–2024 ACS separately estimates how workers usually commuted; it does not count every transit trip or describe today's schedule.

Weekday departures
78

Scheduled stop departures in the current covered-feed snapshot—not riders.

Transit stops
6

Matched inside city limits; nearby cross-border stops are separate.

Top outside workplace
Seattle

22% of observed resident job destinations in 2023 LODES.

Where resident workers go

Top observed workplace destinations.

Seattle22%
Peak drive: 40–80 min
Redmond19%
Peak drive: 20–40 min
Bellevue13%
Peak drive: 25–50 min
Issaquah7%
Peak drive: 20–40 min
Kirkland5%

The strongest outside connection is Seattle. Employer or corridor changes there can alter everyday life in Carnation, even when nothing changes inside the city boundary.

How residents usually get to work

Carnation has 78 scheduled weekday stop departures at 6 stops in the current covered feeds. The household survey is too uncertain to describe the citywide commute-mode split confidently.

The useful next answer is route-specific: travel time, frequency, transfers, and walking distance from a particular home to a likely workplace.

Typical drive times

About how long does it take to get where people go?

Work destinations are selected from observed resident job flows. These are broad, reviewed planning ranges from representative parts of Carnation—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Starting area
Downtown Seattle employment core

Seattle is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Carnation, representing 18% of matched resident jobs from this city.

40–80 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Overlake employment core

Redmond is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Carnation, representing 16% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Downtown Bellevue employment core

Bellevue is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Carnation, representing 10% of matched resident jobs from this city.

25–60 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

North Issaquah employment core

Issaquah is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Carnation, representing 6% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Highway-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.25x circuity factor and an assumed 45 km/h peak-effective / 70 km/h off-peak effective speed, then widened and rounded to a broad band. The morning inbound peak is shown; the evening outbound return is assumed to fall within the same broad band.

Method, review date, and sources

Planning estimate; actual time varies by departure time, route, traffic, weather, incidents, and closures.

Estimates are derived from reviewed origin/destination coordinates using a documented distance-to-time heuristic (circuity factor and assumed effective speed by corridor type and period), then deliberately widened and rounded to a broad band. No live routing or traffic API was called.

Estimates reviewed 2026-09-10. Starting point: selected representative area.

City boundary and regional context● nearby   ● work destinations
Daily life

Community institutions and local activity

Public schools, libraries, pharmacies, and listed everyday places show part of the local inventory inside Carnation; taxable sales show the scale and direction of local commercial activity. Residents also use places across city lines, so a boundary count is not the same as access.

Local field guide

Places for everyday needs in Carnation

Care, errands, food, fitness, and personal services gathered into one browsable directory.

Hospitals0 in cityFind nearby
Explore all hospitals near CarnationOpen
Coffee4 listedView all
Carnation Cafe & LoungeMapKelsey's KoffeeMapSandy's EspressoMapStarbucksMapExplore all coffee in MapsOpen
Fitness1 listedView all
Rivers RAGE CrossTrainMapExplore all fitness in MapsOpen
Groceries2 listedView all
Carnation MarketMapQFCMapExplore all groceries in MapsOpen
Convenience1 listedView all
Jacksons Food StoresMapExplore all convenience in MapsOpen
Restaurants5 listedView all
Blake's Pizzeria & Ice CreamMapIxtapaMapPete's Club Bar and GrillMapRed Pepper Pizzeria and Pasta Carnation StationMapSam's Noodle TownMapExplore all restaurants in MapsOpen
Salons and barbers2 listedView all
Second Generation SalonMapTracie Lynn SalonMapExplore all salons and barbers in MapsOpen

Counts reflect current directory records associated with the city, not a complete business census or a measure of access. Large categories show a sample.

Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), snapshot 2026-08-13; Overture Maps Foundation, release 2026-08-19.0; U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (NPPES NPI Registry), snapshot 2026-09-09.

Public library footprint

Carnation Library

Floor area shows the scale of the physical branches. Physical circulation is 2024 checkouts—not visits, unique users, or digital borrowing—and people routinely use libraries across city lines.

Branch floor area
5,000 sq ft

All matched branches must report floor area before a city total is shown.

Physical checkouts
47,717

Annual branch activity; not limited to city residents. All matched branches must report before a city total is shown.

Carnation LibraryKing County Library System
5,000 sq ft47,717 physical checkouts47 scheduled hours/week

Source: Washington State Library public-library statistics, 2024. System-wide visits, digital circulation, and program attendance cannot be assigned honestly to one branch, so they are not folded into these city totals.

Education footprint

The schools inside Carnation.

Institution counts and enrollment will remain separate. A school can serve students from outside the city, and residents may attend a school across the boundary or elsewhere in their district.

Public elementary1
  • Carnation Elementary SchoolRiverview School District
Public middle1
  • Tolt Middle SchoolRiverview School District
Public high1
  • CLIPRiverview School District
Other public programs1
  • PARADERiverview School District

Public-school names and levels come from OSPI. Private schools, complete IPEDS college coverage, enrollment by level, and graduate destinations are active additions; absence here should not yet be read as “none.”

Retail role

Carnation sits near the regional middle for retail activity per resident.

The sales total does not point strongly toward either a major regional shopping role or an unusually small local retail base.

Retail sales per resident, 2024
$11,651

Higher than 58% of 82 tracked cities.

Change from 2023
+15%

Nominal retail-sales change; inflation can account for some or all of an increase.

See the underlying sales totals
Retail trade, 2024
$28.1M

Sales reported by businesses classified in retail trade.

All taxable sales
$85.4M

Includes taxable activity outside retail trade.

Retail share
33%

Retailing industries’ share of all taxable sales.

Tracked-city median
$10,670

Median retail sales per resident across cities with comparable data.

Civic life

In Carnation, the council—not the mayor—hires the person who runs City Hall.

Carnation voters elect the council, which hires a professional city manager to run administration. The mayor is selected from the council, so executive oversight works through the council rather than a separately elected chief executive.

Government form
Council–Manager

The elected council hires and oversees the city manager.

Mayor listed
Jim Ribail

Generally selected from the council—not a separately elected executive.

Council representatives listed
3

Current directory entries; vacancies or updates can make this differ from authorized seats.

Incorporated
1912

Code city under Washington law.

Where decisions happen

When does the Carnation council meet?

Regular meeting schedule listed in the current municipal directory:

1st & 3rd Tue - 7:00pm

Schedules change and special meetings are separate. Check the city site for the live agenda, staff reports, public-comment rules, and video.

Official city site ↗Current officials directory ↗
Election record

Where to check Carnation election results.

Regular municipal offices generally return in 2027. Special measures can appear earlier, and charter provisions can differ.

The next data step is city-specific turnout, contested-seat share, ballot measures, and campaign money. Until those are normalized, Metroscope links the official record instead of guessing from partisan elections.

Structure, meetings, and current officials: Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC), checked 2026-09-08. Election administration and certified results: the county election offices listed above. Confirm live agendas and officeholders at the source.

Change

What is changing the city’s trajectory?

Population and jobs do not always move together. Reading both helps distinguish a growing employment center from a city whose households are increasingly tied to opportunities elsewhere.

Residents
2,415

12% more from 2021 to 2026

Local jobs
390

32% fewer from 2018 to 2023

Retail trade, 2023–2024
+15%

Nominal taxable-sales change; not adjusted for inflation.

Data & details — selected comparable metrics across 82 places
Local jobs
LODES
390
1,506656,821
Higher than only 0% of places
Long-run job change
LODES
−40%
−3%+166%
Higher than only 0% of places
Weekday transit departures
GTFS snapshot
78
19256,385
Higher than only 4% of places
Multifamily permitting
Census BPS
Near a 15-year high
Recent annual pace compared with this city's own 2010–2025 record
2BR Fair Market Rent
HUD, county-level
$2,549
FY2027 HUD program benchmark; chart shows FY2020–FY2027 history. Shared across this HUD metro area—not a place-specific market rent.
Work — sector breakdown
Share of local jobs by sector · LODES · workplace location, not resident industry
Hospitality22% (84)
Construction / Real Estate16% (63)
Healthcare & Social Assistance16% (63)
Information (partial technology proxy)13% (52)
Education (includes academia/research)9% (37)
Retail9% (37)
Government (Public Administration)4% (16)
Manufacturing (includes, but is not limited to, aerospace)3% (11)
Other2% (9)
Logistics / Industrial2% (9)
Professional Services (partial technology proxy)1% (5)
Administrative & Support Services1% (4)
Finance0% (0)
Where Carnation's workforce lives (inbound)
LODES OD — commuting flows into local jobs
Seattle
17.1%
Duvall
11.0%
Carnation
9.0%
Redmond
4.8%
Kent
4.3%