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An editorial illustration of Fife, Washington
Pierce County · Washington

Fife, WA

Fife’s 1.7 jobs per resident come from a dense freight, food, and manufacturing corridor.

Population
11,440
3% more from 2021 to 2026
Family households
66.3%
±5 points at 90% confidence
Local jobs
19,518
3% more from 2018 to 2023
Median income
$90,532
±$7,680 at 90% confidence
City overview

The forces shaping Fife now.

01
The employers behind the economy

Fife’s 1.7 jobs per resident come from a dense freight, food, and manufacturing corridor.

Fife contains 19,518 workplace jobs. Logistics / Industrial accounts for 37% of them. Hospitality is next at 17%.

The city’s anchor list includes parcel delivery, food distribution and production, building products, medical supply, tribal enterprise, auto-oriented retail, and city government. That breadth explains why Fife draws many more workers than its population—and why I-5 and Port of Tacoma access are economic infrastructure.

Workplace jobs: 2023
02
The city’s regional role

Fife functions as a job center: 19,518 jobs alongside 11,440 residents.

There are 1.71 workplace jobs for every resident—19,518 jobs alongside a population of 11,440.

Fife’s job-rich ratio creates daytime demand and inbound trips. It also raises the value of homes and transit that connect workers to its 19,518 jobs.

Jobs: 2023 · population: 2026
03
The commute that shapes the city

16% of observed Fife resident jobs lead to Seattle; only 10% stay local.

16% of observed resident job destinations are in Seattle, followed by Tacoma at 16%. Only 10% are inside Fife.

Current GTFS schedules 644 weekday stop departures at 49 stops inside Fife; 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?

The typical household estimate is 2.7 people. 66% are estimated to be family households, while 24% are estimated to be people living alone.

Average household size
2.7

±0.1 people at 90% confidence

Median age
31.3

±1.2 years at 90% confidence

Living alone
24%

±5 points at 90% confidence

Bachelor’s degree+
28%

Among residents age 25 and older. ±4 points at 90% confidence

Population composition

Who lives here

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

White, non-Hispanic38% ±4 pts
Hispanic / Latino, any race15% ±4 pts
Black, non-Hispanic13% ±4 pts
Two or more races, non-Hispanic9.0% ±3 pts
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic7.2% ±3 pts
Filipino4.9% ±1 pts
Korean2.7% ±1 pts
Vietnamese2.1% ±1 pts
American Indian / Alaska Native, non-Hispanic1.8% ±1 pts
Cambodian1.6% ±1 pts
Two or more Asian groups1.6% ±1 pts
Asian Indian0.8% ±0.7 pts
Chinese, except Taiwanese0.8% ±0.7 pts
Japanese0.6% ±0.5 pts
Afghan0.4% ±0.6 pts
Other Asian, not specified0.4% ±0.4 pts
Sikh0.1% ±0.1 pts
Thai<0.1% ±0.1 pts
Hmong<0.1% ±0.1 pts
Another race, non-Hispanic<0.1% ±0.1 pts
Taiwanese<0.1% ±0.1 pts

0% published estimate: Mongolian, Okinawan, Other East Asian, Burmese, Indonesian, Laotian, Malaysian, Mien, Singaporean, Other Southeast Asian, Bangladeshi, Bhutanese, Nepalese, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Other South Asian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Other Central Asian, Other Asian, specified. Zero is not proof that no residents identify with that group.

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
Fife 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?

Logistics / Industrial accounts for 37% of jobs located in Fife. The city’s job base changed +30% between 2010 and 2023.

Jobs by sector

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

Logistics / Industrial37%
Hospitality17%
Retail14%
Construction / Real Estate8%
Administrative & Support Services6%

Verified employer anchors

Major employers identified by the City of Fife; local headcounts were not published · Current or recent profile · 2025–2026 city budget. The stated employer vintage is within the current two-year publication window.

The city’s anchor list includes parcel delivery, food distribution and production, building products, medical supply, tribal enterprise, auto-oriented retail, and city government. That breadth explains why Fife draws many more workers than its population—and why I-5 and Port of Tacoma access are economic infrastructure.

AmazonHeadcount not published
American Fast FreightHeadcount not published
Brown & HaleyHeadcount not published
Cardinal HealthHeadcount not published
Costco Business CenterHeadcount not published
Emerald Queen CasinoHeadcount not published
FedExHeadcount not published
MilgardHeadcount not published
Mission FoodsHeadcount not published
Murrey’s DisposalHeadcount not published
UPSHeadcount not published
US FoodsHeadcount not published
SportcoHeadcount not published
City of Fife149 FTE

City of Fife adopted biennial budget ↗. Headcounts change faster than Census employment totals.

Housing

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

46% of occupied homes are estimated to be owner-occupied and 54% rented. The firmer current signal is construction intent: 0 homes were authorized in 2025, versus a recent pace of about 0 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$543k±27089.0 at 90% confidence
Middle half of homes$423k–$657kLower to upper quartile of owner estimates
Luxury-home concentration0%≈0 homes · estimated at $2M+
Under $500k40%
$500–749k55%
$750–999k3%
$1–1.49M1%
$1.5–1.99M0%
$2M+0%

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.

Detached houses41%
Attached houses6%
2–4 unit buildings14%
5+ unit buildings35%
Other3%
Owner-occupied
46%

±5 points at 90% confidence

Homes authorized, 2025
0

Permit authorizations—not construction starts or completed homes.

Residential buildings, 2025
0

One building can contain one home or many housing units.

2023–2025 annual pace
0 homes

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

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 49 stops and 644 weekday stop departures inside Fife. The 2020–2024 ACS separately estimates how workers usually commuted; it does not count every transit trip or describe today's schedule.

Weekday departures
644

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

Transit stops
49

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

Top outside workplace
Seattle

16% of observed resident job destinations in 2023 LODES.

Work inside the city
10%

Share of observed resident job destinations located in the same city in 2023 LODES.

Where resident workers go

Top observed workplace destinations. 10% work inside Fife.

Seattle16%
Peak drive: 55–100 min
Tacoma16%
Peak drive: 15–40 min
Federal Way6%
Peak drive: 20–40 min
Kent6%

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

How residents usually get to work

Citywide ACS 2020–2024 estimates describe workers’ usual commute—not every trip made today.

Drive alone
76%

Share of workers usually driving alone. ±7 points at 90% confidence

Work from home
11%

Share of workers usually working from home. ±2 points at 90% confidence

Use public transit
0.9%

Usual commute mode—not all transit trips. ±0.6 points at 90% confidence

Commute 45+ minutes
17%

Share of workers with a one-way commute of at least 45 minutes. ±3 points at 90% confidence

For someone choosing a home in Fife, the practical test is the trip to Seattle, the leading outside workplace destination in the published flows. These citywide shares cannot show whether that trip works from a particular address.

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 Fife—not live-traffic or door-to-door predictions.

Starting area
Downtown Seattle employment core

Seattle is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Fife, representing 14% of matched resident jobs from this city.

55–100 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.

Tacoma employment area

Tacoma is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Fife, representing 14% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 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.

Fife employment area

Fife is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Fife, representing 8% of matched resident jobs from this city.

5–20 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 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.

Federal Way employment area

Federal Way is a LODES-selected resident workplace destination for Fife, representing 5% of matched resident jobs from this city.

20–40 minWeekday morning peak
Details

Local arterial-dominant corridor: distance converted with a reviewed 1.40x circuity factor and an assumed 28 km/h peak-effective / 42 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 Fife; 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 Fife

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

Hospitals0 in cityFind nearby
Explore all hospitals near FifeOpen
Clinics and urgent care2 listedView all
Ruralmetro Ambulance Pierce County OperationsMapSelena EonMapExplore all clinics and urgent care in MapsOpen
Pharmacies2 listedView all
Fife Pharmacy And Gifts5303 PACIFIC HWY E · FIFE, WA 98424-2601MapSalish Pharmacy3700 PACIFIC HWY E STE 100B · FIFE, WA 98424-1160MapExplore all pharmacies in MapsOpen
Coffee8 listedView all
Associated ExpressoMapDutch Bros CoffeeMapEagle House CoffeeMapGood Vibes EspressoMapLizzie Lou's TooMapPacific Hwy EMapStarbucksMapStarbucks Coffee CompanyMapExplore all coffee in MapsOpen
Fitness2 listedView all
Srisuk Muay ThaiMapSUP Yoga in FifeMapExplore all fitness in MapsOpen
Groceries8 listedView all
Balt TradeMapBigfoot Lgm IncMapEmish MarketMapGruma Mission FoodsMapLusamerica FoodsMapRecipe33MapSandra Price InsuranceMapUpdraft Ventures Inc.MapExplore all groceries in MapsOpen
Convenience8 listedView all
7-ElevenMapCircle KMapPacific XpressMapPetroCard Pacific PrideMapRocketMapSeattle MiniMapTahoma Express#4MapTahoma MarketMapExplore all convenience in MapsOpen
Restaurants41 listedView 8 places
Ajp Enterprises, LlcMapBanda BurritoMapBig Boi Teriyaki n SushiMapChester's ChickenMapCmiMapDenny's RestaurantMapDixon & Dixon IncMapEmerald Queen Hotel & CasinosMapExplore all restaurants in MapsOpen
Salons and barbers3 listedView all
AppassionatoMapElegance and Beyond SalonMapKim's HaircareMapExplore 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

Fife 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
6,100 sq ft

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

Physical checkouts
38,489

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

Fife LibraryPierce County Library System
6,100 sq ft38,489 physical checkouts50 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 Fife.

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
  • Fife Elementary SchoolFife School District
Public middle0

None in the current OSPI city-boundary match.

Public high3
  • Columbia Junior High SchoolFife School District
  • Fife High SchoolFife School District
  • Fife Open DoorsFife School District
Other public programs0

None in the current OSPI city-boundary match.

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

Fife has an unusually large retail economy for its population.

Retail sales per resident rank among the 100% highest of the cities tracked by Metroscope. That is consistent with a city serving shoppers from beyond its borders, although sales records do not reveal where customers live.

Retail sales per resident, 2024
$86,221

Higher than 100% of 82 tracked cities.

Change from 2023
−3%

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

See the underlying sales totals
Retail trade, 2024
$986.4M

Sales reported by businesses classified in retail trade.

All taxable sales
$1.4B

Includes taxable activity outside retail trade.

Retail share
69%

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

Fife 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
Kim Roscoe

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

Council representatives listed
7

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

Incorporated
1957

Code city under Washington law.

Where decisions happen

When does the Fife council meet?

Regular meeting schedule listed in the current municipal directory:

2nd & 4th Tue - 6:00pm

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 Fife 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
11,440

3% more from 2021 to 2026

Local jobs
19,518

3% more from 2018 to 2023

Retail trade, 2023–2024
−3%

Nominal taxable-sales change; not adjusted for inflation.

Data & details — selected comparable metrics across 82 places
Local jobs
LODES
19,518
1,506656,821
Higher than 65% of places
Long-run job change
LODES
+30%
−3%+166%
Higher than only 39% of places
Weekday transit departures
GTFS snapshot
644
19256,385
Higher than only 13% of places
Multifamily permitting
Census BPS
Near a 15-year low
Recent annual pace compared with this city's own 2010–2025 record
2BR Fair Market Rent
HUD, county-level
$2,064
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
Logistics / Industrial37% (7,266)
Hospitality17% (3,406)
Retail14% (2,757)
Construction / Real Estate8% (1,592)
Administrative & Support Services6% (1,195)
Manufacturing (includes, but is not limited to, aerospace)6% (1,139)
Healthcare & Social Assistance4% (722)
Professional Services (partial technology proxy)4% (700)
Other2% (377)
Government (Public Administration)1% (176)
Finance1% (136)
Information (partial technology proxy)0% (31)
Education (includes academia/research)0% (21)
Where Fife's workforce lives (inbound)
LODES OD — commuting flows into local jobs
Tacoma
31.6%
Lakewood
6.7%
Federal Way
6.6%
Puyallup
5.6%
Kent
5.4%