HomeWashingtonWhatcom CountyBellingham city
Bellingham city, Washington: commercial real estate data.
Bellingham city is a Census city of 93,438 people across 28.20 square miles of land, in Whatcom County. Median household income is $66,755, 44.6 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 165 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $116.1 m.
78 sourced place values · tier FULL · 8 sections · underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency
Bellingham
What Bellingham is
- Census place typecity
- Land area28.2 sq mi
- Water area2.31 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land3,314
- County holding the largest share of its areaWhatcom County, 100.0 percent
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Bellingham
How many people live in Bellingham
- Population93,438
- Median age34.1
- Population under 1812,920
- Share under 1813.8 percent
- Population 65 and over15,407
- Share 65 and over16.5 percent
- Households41,500
- Family households17,995
- Share of households that are families43.4 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Bellingham
Income and work in Bellingham
- Median household income$66,755
- Per capita income$42,947
- Civilian labor force54,171
- Employed51,141
- Unemployed3,030
- Unemployment rate5.6 percent
- Adults 25 and over60,780
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher95.2 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher48.5 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree19.8 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Bellingham
Housing in Bellingham
- Housing units43,792
- Occupied units41,500
- Vacant units2,292 plus or minus 485
- Vacancy rate5.2 percent plus or minus 1.1
- Owner occupied18,512
- Renter occupied22,988
- Ownership rate44.6 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$627,500
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,577
- Annual rent as a share of median income28.3 percent
- Single family units20,962
- Share single family47.9 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more21,685
- Share in buildings of two or more49.5 percent
- Mobile homes1,068 plus or minus 291
- Median year structure built1986
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Bellingham
How Bellingham gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute42,950
- Commuting under 15 minutes19,681
- Share commuting under 15 minutes45.8 percent
- Commuting 30 minutes or more7,589
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more17.7 percent
- Drove alone63.7 percent
- Carpooled6.8 percent
- Public transport3.3 percent plus or minus 0.8
- Walked6.9 percent
- Worked from home14.7 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Bellingham
SBA loans in Bellingham (7(a))
- Approvals165
- Gross approval$116,139,200
- Average approval$703,874
- Median approval$274,000
- Ninetieth percentile approval$1,928,000
- Largest approval$5,000,000
- Jobs supported1,758
- Jobs per approval10.7
- Loans with a final outcome33
- Paid in full31
- Charged off2
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans6.1 percent
- Median term120 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more14.5 percent
- Share to franchises12.1 percent
- Distinct lenders46
- Distinct industries by NAICS82
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Bellingham
SBA loans in Bellingham (504)
- Approvals116
- Gross approval$72,020,000
- Average approval$620,862
- Median approval$472,000
- Largest approval$4,444,000
- Jobs supported887
- Loans with a final outcome45
- Charged off0
- Charge-off rate over resolved loans0.0 percent
- Median term240 months
- Distinct CDCs3
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Whatcom County, not Bellingham
Whatcom County context, not Bellingham figures
These are Whatcom County figures. There is no place level equivalent published for any of them, so they are shown as the county backdrop and never as Bellingham measurements.
- Establishments in Whatcom County7,146
- Employment at those establishments, Whatcom County80,648
- Covered employment, Whatcom County93,430
- Average annual pay, Whatcom County$65,174
- Average weekly wage, Whatcom County$1,253
- Housing units permitted, Whatcom County1,190
- Of those, single family, Whatcom County773
- County product, 2024, Whatcom County$20,639,594,000
- County product change over the prior year, Whatcom County0.3 percent
- Average income of an arriving household, Whatcom County$91,268
Every figure in this section is published for Whatcom County as a whole and is not a measurement of Bellingham. It is here because a county backdrop is what a credit committee reads a place against, and it is labelled so that it can never be quoted as the place's own.
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual. US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional, table CAGDP2, CAGDP2, through 2024. US Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income county migration flows, 2021 to 2022 filing years.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Every item below could be filled with a plausible figure. None of them is. On a page a lender may read, a number that cannot be traced is worse than an absence, so the absences are named.
- This place is not listed as a community in the FEMA Community Status Book, so no NFIP participation or CRS class is shown.
- Parcel level detail, zoning and flood zone at an address are resolved in the platform, not on this page.
SBA figures count approvals to borrowers whose address is in the place. They are not approvals for projects inside the place boundary: the tape records a borrower city and a project county, and those can differ.
Common questions
Bellingham questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Bellingham, Washington?
93,438, in 41,500 households. Bellingham city covers 28.20 square miles of land, which is 3,314 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Bellingham in?
Whatcom County, which holds 100.0 percent of the place by area. Source: US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage.
What is the median household income in Bellingham?
$66,755. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $627,500. Median gross rent is $1,577 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Bellingham businesses?
165 7(a) approvals totalling $116.1 m, across 46 lenders, median approval $274,000, plus 116 504 approvals worth $72.0 m. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Bellingham, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Bellingham borrowers get paid back?
Of the 33 loans that have reached a final outcome, 31 were paid in full and 2 charged off, a charge off rate of 6.1 percent. Loans still running are excluded because they have not yet succeeded or failed.
Are the county figures on this page Bellingham figures?
No, and they are labelled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Whatcom County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Bellingham.
Is zoning published for Bellingham?
Not yet. The zoning layer is in build. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.