Electric Consumer

Editor: Katerine G., Editor & Data Researcher · Research & publishing: Electric Consumer Editorial Team · Data retrieved · Sources named on this page: EIA-861, Census ACS, DOE LEAD, FEMA National Risk Index, OpenFEMA NFIP · How we got these numbers · Report an error

Counties in Washington ranked

3.7%of income goes to home energy in Garfield County, the highest of 39 Washington counties

Chelan County is lowest at 0.8%, a gap of 4.4 times. The median Washington county sits at 2.2%, against 3.3% for the median U.S. county. Source for Washington: DOE LEAD 2022.

Washington county map

Washington counties, shaded by quintile of the selected measureKing County: 1.1%Lincoln County: 2.5%Pend Oreille County: 2.6%Asotin County: 2.2%Skagit County: 2.0%Franklin County: 1.8%Whitman County: 2.0%Yakima County: 2.4%Clark County: 1.4%Benton County: 1.6%Kittitas County: 2.4%Wahkiakum County: 2.8%Island County: 2.0%Clallam County: 2.3%Grays Harbor County: 2.7%Pacific County: 2.0%San Juan County: 2.7%Spokane County: 1.9%Whatcom County: 1.9%Douglas County: 0.9%Grant County: 1.6%Snohomish County: 1.4%Okanogan County: 3.4%Ferry County: 3.6%Cowlitz County: 1.8%Mason County: 2.3%Columbia County: 3.0%Adams County: 2.3%Skamania County: 2.9%Jefferson County: 2.4%Walla Walla County: 2.0%Pierce County: 1.6%Chelan County: 0.8%Garfield County: 3.7%Thurston County: 1.8%Klickitat County: 2.4%Kitsap County: 1.6%Lewis County: 2.2%Stevens County: 2.6%
  • 0.8% to 1.6%
  • 1.6% to 2.0%
  • 2.0% to 2.3%
  • 2.3% to 2.7%
  • 2.7% to 3.7%

Washington counties, darker = higher. Click one for its page.

Highest energy burden in Washington

Garfield County leads Washington on burden at 3.7% of income and Ferry County follows at 3.6%. For lower-income homes the top is Skamania County: 10.5% of income, against 5.5% in the median Washington county.

home energy burden, % of income, top 10 Washington counties

  • Garfield County3.7
  • Ferry County3.6
  • Okanogan County3.4
  • Columbia County3.0
  • Skamania County2.9
  • Wahkiakum County2.8
  • Grays Harbor County2.7
  • San Juan County2.7
  • Stevens County2.6
  • Pend Oreille County2.6
  • Washington median county2.2
Washington counties with the lowest home energy burden
Lowest burden in WashingtonShare of income (WA)Residents (WA)
Chelan County0.8%79,518
Douglas County0.9%43,733
King County1.1%2,262,713
Snohomish County1.4%834,648
Clark County1.4%510,516

Storm reports and FEMA risk in Washington

NOAA logged 307 damaging-wind, tornado, tropical, ice, winter and heat reports in Lincoln County from 2015 to 2025, 2,724 for every 100,000 residents: the most in Washington. FEMA scores King County highest at 99.7 (very high). In Washington these are weather reports and an index, not outage counts.

Washington top 5: Storm reports per 100,000 residents
Top 5 in Washingtonreports 2015-2025 (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
Lincoln County2,72411,2711st
Pend Oreille County2,71513,8112nd
Ferry County2,2937,3263rd
Okanogan County85742,8114th
Stevens County80547,4705th
Washington top 5: FEMA risk score
Top 5 in Washingtonscore 0-100 (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
King County99.72,262,7131st
Pierce County98.5924,1062nd
Snohomish County97.9834,6483rd
Grays Harbor County97.076,3974th
Thurston County94.5296,6405th

Flood claims and flood insurance in Washington

Grays Harbor County has the most NFIP flood claims per 1,000 homes in Washington: 10.3 from 2015 to 2025, against 1.1 in the median Washington county. Wahkiakum County has the highest share of homes with flood insurance (5.3%, median county 0.8%). Claims are a record of insured losses, not outage counts.

Washington top 5: Flood claims per 1,000 homes
Top 5 in Washingtonclaims 2015-2025 (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
Grays Harbor County10.376,3971st
Whatcom County8.8228,4322nd
Columbia County5.73,9963rd
Skagit County4.8130,4074th
Lewis County4.483,9255th
Washington top 5: Flood insurance penetration
Top 5 in Washington% of homes insured (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
Wahkiakum County5.3%4,5731st
Skagit County4.8%130,4072nd
Grays Harbor County4.1%76,3973rd
Lewis County2.9%83,9254th
Kittitas County2.3%44,7365th

FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP, as of 8 Sep 2026. Flood claims by county.

Outliers: Washington counties far from the state median

10 county-measure pairs sit 3 or more scaled median-absolute-deviation units from the Washington median. Most extreme: Lincoln County, storm reports per 100,000 residents 2,724 against a median of 122.

Washington outliers by deviation from the state median
CountyMeasureValueWashington medianDeviations
Lincoln CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents2,724122+14.5
Pend Oreille CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents2,715122+14.5
Ferry CountyStorm reports per 100,000 residents2,293122+12.1
Grays Harbor CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes10.31.1+10.6
Whatcom CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes8.81.1+8.8
Wahkiakum CountyFlood insurance penetration5.3%0.8%+6.8
Skagit CountyFlood insurance penetration4.8%0.8%+6.1
Columbia CountyFlood claims per 1,000 homes5.71.1+5.3
Grays Harbor CountyFlood insurance penetration4.1%0.8%+5.1
Garfield CountyFEMA risk score1.685.3-4.9

Old homes, electric heat and utilities in Washington

Garfield County has the oldest stock: 82% of homes date from before 1980. Electric heat is most common in Douglas County at 96% of homes, and Pierce County lists 7 utilities, the most in Washington.

Washington top 5: Homes built before 1980
Top 5 in Washington% of homes (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
Garfield County82%2,3261st
Columbia County78%3,9962nd
Lincoln County62%11,2713rd
Grays Harbor County61%76,3974th
Walla Walla County60%62,1025th
Washington top 5: Homes heated by electricity
Top 5 in Washington% of homes (WA)Residents (WA)Rank (WA)
Douglas County96%43,7331st
Grant County95%100,4282nd
Chelan County93%79,5183rd
Clallam County86%77,5934th
Cowlitz County85%111,5395th

Find your Washington county

  • Pick a Washington county to see its ranks.

All 39 Washington counties, sortable

39 Washington counties, all measures
Adams County20,6902.3%5.0%60923.258%72%40.70.1%126
Asotin County22,4242.2%5.7%28117.955%40%2no data0.1%63
Benton County210,2241.6%4.4%3087.145%79%50.30.3%63
Chelan County79,5180.8%2.0%25390.948%93%11.11.2%201
Clallam County77,5932.3%6.2%189.748%86%20.10.8%1
Clark County510,5161.4%4.2%592.234%62%10.10.4%24
Columbia County3,9963.0%7.8%under 5,000 residents8.678%74%35.72.1%82
Cowlitz County111,5391.8%4.7%2190.358%85%31.42.0%23
Douglas County43,7330.9%2.4%71874.146%96%2no data0.2%314
Ferry County7,3263.6%9.8%2,29351.741%39%1no data0.3%168
Franklin County97,6761.8%4.4%6272.538%67%3no data0.1%61
Garfield County2,3263.7%8.2%under 5,000 residents1.682%58%2no data1.1%62
Grant County100,4281.6%3.4%16576.944%95%3no data0.5%166
Grays Harbor County76,3972.7%6.2%197.061%73%410.34.1%1
Island County86,7472.0%6.0%no data78.035%56%22.82.2%no data
Jefferson County33,3132.4%7.7%364.438%67%30.71.0%1
King County2,262,7131.1%4.8%099.747%53%40.90.8%1
Kitsap County276,5811.6%5.5%092.340%59%31.00.8%1
Kittitas County44,7362.4%5.5%8589.139%56%41.82.3%38
Klickitat County23,0822.4%7.3%56373.947%56%1no data0.2%130
Lewis County83,9252.2%5.8%no data89.751%75%54.42.9%no data
Lincoln County11,2712.5%6.5%2,72454.962%51%4no data0.5%307
Mason County66,9682.3%6.7%185.338%73%21.61.2%1
Okanogan County42,8113.4%8.6%85789.247%72%21.00.8%367
Pacific County23,7502.0%5.1%8492.754%77%32.92.3%20
Pend Oreille County13,8112.6%7.2%2,71528.044%64%31.01.0%375
Pierce County924,1061.6%4.7%098.543%59%70.60.7%1
San Juan County18,2662.7%10.1%30735.437%61%10.40.7%56
Skagit County130,4072.0%5.7%no data88.843%40%14.84.8%no data
Skamania County12,2762.9%10.5%12249.746%56%1no data0.4%15
Snohomish County834,6481.4%4.6%no data97.936%52%11.10.7%no data
Spokane County544,3231.9%4.8%13490.054%44%50.10.1%731
Stevens County47,4702.6%7.3%80560.343%41%2no data0.3%382
Thurston County296,6401.8%5.3%194.535%59%31.10.9%2
Wahkiakum County4,5732.8%7.1%under 5,000 residents19.351%69%1no data5.3%8
Walla Walla County62,1022.0%5.1%22960.460%54%31.60.7%142
Whatcom County228,4321.9%5.4%no data91.041%46%18.81.9%no data
Whitman County47,0422.0%4.7%21539.854%58%30.50.3%101
Yakima County256,6052.4%5.1%4394.058%68%30.70.9%110

Download CSV, 39 rows

Washington: click a header to sort. Per-capita storm rates start at 5,000 residents.

Sources

Washington sources with periods and retrieval dates
SourcePeriodRetrieved
DOE LEAD (WA)20222 Oct 2026
FEMA NRI (WA)Dec 20252 Oct 2026
NOAA Storm Events (WA)2015 to 20252 Oct 2026
Census ACS (WA)2019 to 20232 Oct 2026
EIA-861 (WA)20241 Oct 2026

Washington LEAD figures are group estimates, not bills. Methodology.

Keep going

Other states: West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona.

Questions

Which Washington county has the highest home energy burden?

Garfield County: 3.7% of income, against 2.2% for the median Washington county (DOE LEAD 2022).

Which Washington county has the lowest energy burden?

Chelan County at 0.8% of income.

How does Washington compare with the whole country?

The median Washington county has a burden of 2.2% and the median U.S. county 3.3%, across 39 Washington counties and 3,053 U.S. counties with data.

Where do storms cause the most trouble in Washington?

Lincoln County has the most NOAA storm reports per 100,000 residents: 2,724 between 2015 and 2025.

Which Washington county has the highest FEMA risk score?

King County: 99.7, rated very high by FEMA (Dec 2025).

Where are the oldest homes in Washington?

Garfield County: 82% of homes were built before 1980; the median Washington county is at 46% (Census ACS 2023).

Which Washington county relies most on electric heat?

Douglas County: 96% of homes heat with electricity, against 61% in the median county.

Which Washington county has the most flood claims per home?

Grays Harbor County: 10.3 NFIP claims per 1,000 homes from 2015 to 2025; the median Washington county has 1.1 (FEMA OpenFEMA).

Are storm reports the same as power outages in Washington?

No: in Washington they are weather reports, not outage counts.

Where can Washington households get help with bills?

See the Washington help page. Highest burden: Garfield County.

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3.7% of income goes to home energy in Garfield County, the highest of 39 Washington counties