Vashon is a somewhat small coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Washington. With a population of 10,123 people and two constituent neighborhoods, Vashon is the 80th largest community in Washington.

Unlike some towns, Vashon isn't mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Vashon are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Vashon is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Vashon who work in management occupations (12.66%), office and administrative support jobs (9.73%), and sales jobs (8.68%).

Of important note, Vashon is also a town of artists. Vashon has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Vashon's character.

Also of interest is that Vashon has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their homes - 8.63% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Because of many things, Vashon is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Vashon a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town's good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Vashon has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Vashon's overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

One of the nice things about Vashon is that is it nautical, meaning that parts of the town are somewhat historic and on the ocean, or touch tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Vashon is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Vashon, the average commute to work is 46.95 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

Being a small town, Vashon does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

Vashon Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, Vashon is a pretty powerful place. 48.83% of the adults in Vashon have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 14.96% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Vashon in 2000 was $31,983, which is wealthy relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $127,932 for a family of four.

The people who call Vashon home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Vashon is White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Vashon include German, English, Irish, Norwegian, Scottish, French, European, Scotch-Irish, Swedish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Vashon is English. Some people also speak Spanish.