Index is a tiny town located in the state of Washington. With a population of 157 people and just one neighborhood, Index is the 324th largest community in Washington. Index has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic towns.
Housing costs in Index are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Washington.
Index is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 94.23% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Index is a town of managers, sales and office workers, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Index who work in management occupations (30.77%), sales jobs (26.92%), and office and administrative support (9.62%).
A relatively large number of people in Index telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.46% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.
Another notable thing is that Index is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town.
Overall, Index’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
Residents will find that the town is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Index is worth considering.
In Index, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 37.39 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.
Being a small town, Index does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The citizens of Index have a very low rate of college education: just 7.77% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, compared to a national average of 21.84% for all cities.
The per capita income in Index in 2022 was $39,190, which is upper middle income relative to Washington and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $156,760 for a family of four. However, Index contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Index home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Index residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Index include German, Irish, French, Swedish, and Norwegian.
The most common language spoken in Index is English. Other important languages spoken here include Slavic languages and Native American languages.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
This neighborhood has wide open spaces, few people, and lots of space to stretch out. If you like locations that fit that description, you may like this neighborhood. Based on NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis, with only 9 people per square mile living here, this neighborhood is less crowded than 97.4% of America.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more British and Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 3.6% of this neighborhood's residents have British ancestry and 6.9% have Scottish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Index are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 70.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 13.7% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 57.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 35.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 29.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (18.9%), and 16.6% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.5% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (4.2%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Index, WA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (18.1%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (14.3%), and residents who report English roots (10.8%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (8.1%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (6.9%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (38.4% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (69.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (8.7%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.