Water damage data for Bellingham: what the federal numbers say
Free local data for water damage work in Bellingham, taken from federal sources and last pulled October 30, 2026. It covers the Bellingham, WA Metro Area, starting with the homes and moving on to the local trade.
The housing here
The Census does not record leaks or flood history, so the age of the stock is the proxy for where water damage has had time to happen. In the Bellingham, WA Metro Area, 11,857 of 103,520 homes (11.5%) were built before 1940, and 18,192 (17.6%) before 1960. Nationally the shares are 11.7% and 25.6%. The median home across the metro is worth $585,800, against $332,700 nationally. 36.3% of households rent.
| Area | Homes | Median year built | Built before 1940 | Built before 1960 | Renters | Median value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingham, WA Metro Area | 103,520 | 1989 | 11.5% | 17.6% | 36.3% | $585,800 |
| Whatcom County, Washington | 103,520 | 1989 | 11.5% | 17.6% | 36.3% | $585,800 |
| Bellingham (city) | 43,792 | 1986 | 17.0% | 23.3% | 55.4% | $627,500 |
| Washington | 3,306,620 | 1985 | 9.6% | 20.5% | 36.2% | $564,600 |
| United States | 143,775,355 | 1980 | 11.7% | 25.6% | 34.8% | $332,700 |
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024. Counties shown are the main ones in the metro (1 in all).
The local market
County Business Patterns counts 6 remediation services establishments across the Bellingham, WA Metro Area, 0.64 for every ten thousand households. That is roughly one for every 15,670 households. The Census counts locations rather than companies, so a one-truck operator and a national chain's branch each count once. That code is wider than one job, since it also takes in other cleanup and abatement work, so read it as an upper bound.
Home prices
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's house price index for Bellingham, WA is up 2.1% over the latest year (through 2025). Over five years it is up 49.9%, and over ten it is up 120.6%. The index follows repeat sales of the same houses, so it measures how prices moved, not what any one home sells for this month.
What the trade pays
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers (SOC 47-4041) in Bellingham, WA earned a mean of $28.85 an hour ($60,010 a year) in May 2025, against $27.13 an hour ($56,430) nationally, about 6% above the national mean. The median is $28.71 an hour here and $23.78 nationally. BLS estimates 40 people hold that job in Bellingham, WA.
No occupation code matches water damage work exactly, so this uses the closest match: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers. These are wages paid to workers, not prices charged to customers; a customer's bill also has to cover the vehicle and the insurance.
Where these numbers come from
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024, tables B25034, B25040, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25077, B01003, B11001
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2015-2019 (county trend comparison)
- FHFA House Price Index (all-transactions, annual, NSA), Bellingham, WA
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 562910 (remediation services)
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year 2020-2024, table B11001 (households, density denominator)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) (OEWS), Hazardous Materials Removal Workers (47-4041), Bellingham, WA, May 2025 (national benchmark: U.S.)
The American Community Survey is a sample, so every housing figure carries a margin of error, and it is widest for small areas. Where a source suppresses a cell to protect individual businesses or because the sample is too thin, we leave it blank rather than estimate it. Whatcom Restoration Desk reads these files and does not edit them.