Home to 299,067 people, Olympia, WA is the 171st-largest of the 387 US metropolitan areas. Households, home values, education, business density, and which trades are already crowded, all from Census data.
Officially the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA metropolitan statistical area, it takes in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater.
Housing: a median home value of $480,300, 44 percent above the national figure. Money first: median household income in the Olympia metro is $96,563, 20 percent above the national figure. Together they say a good deal about the ticket sizes a local business can expect.
Education: 38.5% with a bachelor's or higher, 3 points above the US share. Median age 40, 1.1 years above the national median. Homeownership stands at 67.7%, 2 points above the US share. Unemployment in the civilian labor force is 5.2%, about the same as the US share.
One more comparison, this time with Washington: median income about the same as the Washington figure, median home value 15 percent lower than the Washington figure, business density 14 percent thinner than the Washington figure.
Start with the count: 6,656 establishments with payroll. Set against the population that is 22.3 per 1,000 residents, 11 percent below the national figure, against 25 nationally. Home-services contractors make up 348 of those establishments, 5.2% of the total, about the same as the US share.
| Trade | Establishments | Per 100,000 residents | vs US mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automobile dealers | 19 | 6.4 | 0.51× |
| General freight trucking | 58 | 19.4 | 0.62× |
| General automotive repair | 56 | 18.7 | 0.83× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 76 | 25.4 | 0.86× |
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 70 | 23.4 | 0.88× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 32 | 10.7 | 0.94× |
| Legal services | 135 | 45.1 | 0.94× |
| Physicians' offices | 172 | 57.5 | 0.99× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 493 | 164.8 | 1.00× |
| Landscaping services | 100 | 33.4 | 1.06× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 8 | 2.7 | 1.09× |
| Child day care services | 76 | 25.4 | 1.16× |
| Electrical contractors | 78 | 26.1 | 1.18× |
| Dentists | 137 | 45.8 | 1.27× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 144 | 48.1 | 1.32× |
| Personal care services (all) | 174 | 58.2 | 1.36× |
| Beauty salons | 94 | 31.4 | 1.40× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 27 | 9 | 1.45× |
| Self-storage facilities | 24 | 8 | 1.62× |
| Roofing contractors | 35 | 11.7 | 1.72× |
The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).
Some trades are heavier here than in the country at large: roofing contractors, self-storage operators, concrete contractors and beauty salons. Roofing contractors lead at 35 establishments, 1.7 times the US share. Fewer than the national pattern would suggest: automobile dealers, general freight trucking and general automotive repair. Automobile dealers show the largest gap, 19 locations, about half of what the national mix would give. Neither crowded nor thin: plumbing and HVAC contractors, specialty trade contractors and landscaping services.
By raw count the largest categories here are restaurants (493), personal care services (174) and physicians' offices (172). Per 100,000 residents: restaurants 164.8, followed by personal care services and physicians' offices. The group picture: medical and dental practices above the national pattern at about the same as, automotive businesses below it at about 71% of.
Because roofing contractors, self-storage operators and concrete contractors are over-represented, a new entrant in those categories competes for a fixed pool of searches against many established profiles. Reviews, photos, response time and a page that answers the exact query are what move the needle; simply outbidding is expensive. The thin categories, automobile dealers, general freight trucking and general automotive repair, are the cheapest place to build a name: fewer bidders, cheaper clicks, and searchers with fewer options. Household income 20 percent above the national figure supports higher ticket sizes, which is why premium positioning and financing offers tend to work in this market. Residents here are older than the US median (1.1 years above the national median); they search, read reviews and call, which puts the weight on search, the listing and the phone.
Services for a business advertising in Olympia, WA, picked from the full list.
Design and build of a site that turns local traffic into leads.
Display and retargeting across the sites people in Olympia, WA read.
Every Google review answered promptly in the business's own voice.
Google search ads for the exact services and towns, tracked to the phone call.
Management of the Google listing that decides the map pack.
Search optimization aimed at the local queries that produce calls.
Olympia, WA has 299,067 residents (US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimate), ranking 171st of 387 metropolitan areas.
The median household income in Olympia, WA is $96,563 (ACS 2024 5-year), above the US median of $80,734.
The Census Bureau counts 6,656 employer establishments in Olympia, WA (County Business Patterns 2023), or 22.3 businesses per 1,000 residents.
The median home value in Olympia, WA is $480,300, and 67.7% of homes are owner-occupied (ACS 2024 5-year).
Measured against the US business mix (County Business Patterns 2023), roofing contractors, self-storage operators and concrete contractors have more establishments per resident than the US average; automobile dealers, general freight trucking and general automotive repair have fewer in Olympia, WA.
Tell us the trade and the area; we will show you what the competition looks like and what it takes to be found.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023. Updated 2026-09-29.