2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Palo Alto, CA vs Olympia, WA

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Highlights
- Household income in Olympia, is 65% less than it is in Palo Alto and is 2% below the National Average.
- Palo Alto unemployment rate is 3.5%.
- Olympia unemployment rate is 5.6%.
 Palo Alto, CAOlympia, WAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.6%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.4%1.6%
 Future Job Growth40.5%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock0.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$105,070  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$67,975$69,021
 Family Median Income$241,579  Unlock$85,028
 space
 Est. Households By Income
 Palo Alto, CAOlympia, WAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock10.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K1.3%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock8.4%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K2.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K2.6%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock8.9%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K5.4%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock17.8%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K9.9%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock6.6%9.5%
 space1
 Population By Occupation
 Palo Alto, CAOlympia, WAUnited States
 Management, business, finance26.5%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock10.7%6.5%
 Community, social services1.0%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock2.4%1.2%
 Education, library10.2%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.1%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.9%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.1%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.6%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.4%5.4%
 Building maintenance0.4%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock3.2%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support10.0%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.7%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair1.6%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock9.4%13.1%
Reviews for Palo Alto    8 Reviews

The Bay Area in general, but Palo Alto specifically provides many of the qualities sought by many; the climate is beautiful, there is access to cultural and recreational  More

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Over 17 years ago

Very  More

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Over 18 years ago

VTA and SamsTrans and Caltrain all provide good service and most times frequency of service is  More

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Reviews for Olympia    39 Reviews

We moved here from Kitsap Bremerton/Silverdale WA area and this beats it all the way in all material ways. The only reason not to give it 5 stars is the cost of  More

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Over 4 years ago

The city is horrible. The business have been chased out by homeless. The city government makes it for difficult for businesses to thrive. If you like what Seattle is  More

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Having lived all over the world we decided to retire in Olympia and live on the Puget Sound. Yes it rains but the weather can change dramatically in a day with sun and  More

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