Great Rural Towns in Washington to Retire or Buy Real Estate. 

As a lifelong Washingtonian, you made some great choices. To anyone thinking about rural Washington towns, especially up north, remember that there is a lot of snow and roads are often closed from fall to late spring. It’s not always easy getting around the state, the Cascades divide us immensely, both geographically and culturally/politically. But Washington is a beautiful, fantastic state. Also hoping to see Alaska in this series sometime!

Colville (pronounced Call-ville) has a great drive in movie too. My family pioneered Twisp back when it was called Gloversville. Many relatives buried there.

#6: Tonasket 1:14 #5: Dayton 3:29 #4: Gold Bar 5:27 #3: Morton* 7:25 #2: Twisp 9:25 #1: Colville 12:20 *I lived nearby Morton in Mossyrock when I was in 6th grade. Very correct about local bodies of water around there. Riffe Lake itself is a man-made lake that was built decades ago with a couple small towns at the bottom of it... one of them was called Cosmos I think. Mayfield Lake is great for fishing and Swofford Pond gets filled annually by WA DFW for those that like to fish. Great area for hunting too just be mindful of the cougars (the um, animal not the uh, yeah...) as there are more than a few... comes with the territory I guess, as do most on your list there.

Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway, which connects Twisp directly to Western Washington, is closed all winter long. In fact, it just re-opened last week. That's an important consideration for Twisp if you are considering driving often from Western Washington. Yes, it is very scenic, when open.

I live in Central Washington in a town called Leavenworth. I’m actually on Lake Wenatchee about 16 miles north from town. Our little community is amazing, great schools, no crime. Best fishing, deer in my yard, and the best snowmobile trails.

Should do best towns to live out of an RV. Westport Washington has world class fishing and rent prices are around the $500-$650 range. I only pay $350 for my space rent 🤪😏

Washington is my friend's favorite state, so I am glad you covered this.

I love this series.... and I would like to offer a suggestion.... include gas price in relation to national average at the time of posting. I Think that might help the viewer get a better sense of what to expect for cost of living.

Collville another good one. You knocked this episode out the park

Yelm Washington…. Not real small as it’s been growing fast but it’s lovely. It is close to everything, yet five minutes out of town you have beautiful rural horse farms, goat farms, we have a farm animal sanctuary here, a great miles long running/bike path. We have plant nursery’s, great schools, medical & dental clinics, a Walmart :) we need a few more roads to handle the traffic but they’ll come. We bought 4 years ago and our home has doubled in price so there is that. This is a gardeners dream.. everything grows. I love my town.. can you tell :)

Just screamed like a little girl when I saw this post notification!!!!! I’ve been loving this series and can not wait to watch the Washington version. Living in Arizona and looking for places to relocate as we are remote workers. Thank you for what you do Briggs!!!

My mom and ex-stepdad considered moving to Dayton in 2005. They wanted someplace small but still near a hospital. Good choice!

I can’t believe Colville is #1!!! My family has owned land there since the 1970’s and I went to elementary school at Fort Colville. So crazy to see. Love to hear all of this info!

Gold Bar is super gorgeous, but the biggest drawback are the summer months when weekend traffic on US2 backs up for miles and miles. It's the only road in or out, so that could be a drag. I imagine Port Townsend is a bit too big for this list, but that'd be my choice for a smaller, rural WA town to live in. One of the most beautiful places to visit either in summer or winter.

As a 67 year resident of Washington Stare I can say you made some great choices. Well done! Colville is great but is more rural than it seems especially in winter. Gold Bar is also great but traffic is horrendous during the summer weekends. I think Twisp real estate could be a great investment as well as nice place to live in it has real potential being near to Winthrop. Quilcene, Raymond, Concrete and Ronald would be on my list too. Long Beach Peninsula has a number of small towns like Ilwaco that are lovely but remote.

Finally tonasket makes it on your list! Good job. Used to own property here. Never made it back so I sold it.

Thanks for including the maps image for each place. It saved me from constantly going back and forth from the video to the map, as I usually do. Great video!

We’ve had land in the hills of Tonasket for 25 years. It’s out in the boonies, no cell service. Best place to go and unplug and reconnect with nature. My Dad was instrumental in getting the memorial built, and they ate at Whistlers almost every day.

I was originally hoping you would do this after Oregon, but I am happy you finally posted this

Great video on Washington state Mr. Briggs!, this is one of my favorite states especially due to its scenic beauty, and the no state income tax is nice!.

You missed Ocean Shores Washington. Low crime and we have good internet at Coast access. We have a little too much rain but not bad. Nice houses and prices are not bad. We bought our home 1200 plus SQ manufactured brand new in 2020 for 260K. We can see Grays bay from our home. There are deer wondering through the town and the tree next to us has two bald eagles that like to hang out in it. There is a medical building in town and Hospitals are nearby in Aberdeen. There is a Casino shops and restaurants in town. Pacific ocean is on one side of town and Grays harbor on the other. You should check it out

To me, the sweet spot is small "cities" starting around 25,000 up to maybe the size of something like Rapid City, SD. You can be 10-15 minutes out and feel like you're in the "country" yet be close to basically anything you would need, including more advanced hospitals. Let's face it, as you age you have a better chance of the heart having issues, and many "cities' in the range I mentioned have hospitals that can take care of a heart attack in the middle of the night without going to a real city. Even Sheridan, Wyoming has a hospital with interventional cardiac services, yet 10 minutes away you are essentially rural. Examples I'm thinking of could be Lewiston, ID, Cape Girardeau, MO, etc. Again, you can feel isolated 10-15 minutes out, yet a quick drive for the things you would need, including more advanced healthcare.

I love Leavenworth. Beautiful little city. ❤️👍Thank you for another great video. 👌

Gold Bar on hwy 2 has horrendous traffic. That is why I moved out of there

Just a heads up regarding Twisp/Colville (and a good chunk of central Washington), wildfires are an annual/semi-regular event to the point of being almost a fact of life there. Also, it wasn't that many years ago that Twisp came close to burning to the ground in a fire that killed firefighters. Case in point, check out coverage of the Labor Day 2020 fires and a town called Mansfield, the Cold Springs fire and Colville, and even the fires last summer not far from Dayton. Not saying this to necessarily discourage folks so much as to let them know they have to be more mindful in certain parts of the state--particularly the more rural isolated areas--of fires and of how to make one's home more defendable/less likely to burn

As someone who resides in Washington, I’m very surprised to see Leavenworth wasn’t on your list. Fits in the population ballpark, middle of nowhere, and so much to do and see. I’d also like to lobby for the towns of Alder and Elbe. I think both have populations around 100 or so and it’s about as rural as it gets. Alder Lake is one of my favorite off the beaten path summer spots. Hour drive from me and absolutely worth it. I’d also throw Sequim, Port Townsend, and Chehalis in the mix but I think all three are a bit too high on population for your list. Otherwise fun list. I like driving through the Gold Bar area. I don’t think I’ve seen this on your channel but one day you should do a best/prettiest lakes in Washington video. Diablo Lake, Alder Lake, Lake Chelan, Lake Sammamish, Lake Tapps. God this state is just so incredible and scenic.

Moved to Washington in 87, (from Chicago). Raised a family here. Never run out of amazing things to see and do.

Hey Briggs, I’m a young guy. I think what would excite me is a series of (the most?) underrated cities in the US

WA native here, love this list. My family used to go camping in Winthrop every summer and hit Twisp up at least once. Sad there wasn’t a peninsula town on the list but very good overall.

PUD is an acronym for Public Utility District, the local power company.

It really tickled me to hear those very true words you spoke about Twisp and Chelan ...but then it sank in that now everybody knows !!! _[ Everyone forget what Briggs said ...he just made it up !!! ]_

LOVE Colville! Stayed there for work (power plant stuff), and fell in love! Gorgeous.

Great picks. Another town I like is Cathlamet. It sits along the Columbia River in Western Washington.

I love Washington state so much!

I thought Port Townsend would have made the list. Or port Ludlow , we have a home in port Ludlow, it’s just beautiful over there. Maybe you didn’t mention them because it’s really expensive to live there. My aunt just sold her home in port Townsend and it hadn’t ever been remodeled and it was built in the 60s , it sold for 730,000. Crazy!

Pretty good list. Best things about Gold Bar: right by many beautiful mountains, including Mt Index and Baring. Tons of great hiking, and Steven's Pass not too far away.

I went to highschool in Dayton Washington. I grew up in Columbia county and although I thought it was utterly boring growing up, I have very fond memories of that place.

Just north of Twisp you get Winthrop, which a sort of Wild West themed tourist town. Despite being small and in the middle of nowhere it's got mini golf, wine tasting, epic hiking and river rafting. It's a fun place to visit. But as a Washingtonian I'm not sure I'd really want to live that far into the boonies.

Great places! Thanks for doing Washington. Wonderful state, except for Seattle area.

WOW! One of the best I have seen. Seeing my home, hearing you mention Bikini city [Chelan], I love this video. Thank you!

6. Tonasket, snow and cold from the first of November to the end of March. 5. Dayton. The river is pronounced too-shay. Another place winters are long and cold. But you have the Jolly Green Giant on the side of a hill. 4. Gold Bar, plan on flooding from the river every 3 or 4 years. Plus traffic on Highway 2 in the summertime can be hellacious. 3. Morton, plan on lots of logging trucks on the highways in and out of town. 2. Twisp, another place with long and cold winters. 1. Colville. Got some family there, they love it. Except for the deer poop all over their yard. The main industry there is the lumber mill, you can smell it most of the year. My choices in no particular order are Port Townsend, Chewelah, Walla Walla, Raymond, Cle Elum and Coupeville.

I’ve lived in Washington for 10 years and I think your list is spot on. We stayed in Twisp for a few nights during the summer, it was awesome. We drive thru Morton all the time to go skiing. Gold Bar, same. Colville also is home to Hewescraft Boats, they make the quintessential PNW fishing boats.

Oh my goodness! There are so many great small towns in this state! We have some of the best small towns in the country I'm pretty sure. Chewelah is just south of Colville, Newport just NE of Spokane, Rosalia just south of Spokane, Ritzville - a historic sleeping gem midway between Pasco and Spokane.

Just want to point out you left one of the top economic rural towns with beautiful scenery and great housing off this list: yelm, wa

Weathers to bad in gold bar. It’s always raining here. The clouds hit the mountains and then dump everything before moving on to sunny east cascades

Does it get anymore beautiful then the Pacific NW? The Great Lakes Michigan shoreline maybe? Speaking of......maybe great rural towns in Michigan?

I love your videos! I spent a year in Oregon and haven’t thought about anything but getting back there since, I’m jealous of you!!

bought my off grid property at the #1 spot. wooded acreage 15 min from town with 2 creeks, plenty of space, and like minded neighbors. took me 3 yrs to find but well worth it. i even get 3 bars on the cell phone. im so looking forward to getting out of this shithole called Tacoma and retire to a simpler life of self sustainability but if that fails, there is always a Walmart in town for the basics.

Thank you, that was really informative!

Castle Rock is also an amazing small town between Seattle and Portland

Another great episode, thank you! Too many of these towns though, are on the Wet-side of WA. As in, overcast and rain 75% of the year. My sister and mother both retired from the Seattle area and moved to Manson, WA on Lake Chelan. A lot drier plus WINERIES!!

Never been to Colville, but the rest are spot on - nice vid sir, thx

Lol, I was a pastor one summer in Hunters, WA. Now that's a small town. 3 churches and one bar. But if you miss it. I knew the guy who pastured in Colville that same year.

Personally I'm liking Aberdeen, Wa. We moved here about 4 years ago, and the 111 year old craftsman home which has 4 brds 3 full baths, 2,700 sq ft, 2 story home & 700 sq ft of garage space was purchased for only $150,000.00, now after a total exterior remodel job costing less than $90,000.00 it's now worth $525,000.00. It didn't have 1 plant on our 6,000 sq ft lot when we bought it, now it's got 15 trees, dozens of different flowering bushes, rows of blooming roses & other colored blooming flowers. It's a show piece, and others in our area are sprucing up their homes too. Aberdeen has such promise, I see it changing, becoming more of an art town like La Conner, Wa (with a Ferris wheel all lite up!)who's by the water also. I'm not always happy about the strong (at times) winds & sea level gusts which bring the temperature about 5 degrees lower than Tacoma, Wa.

Who in their right mind would move to Gold Bar? I grew up in Sultan and Gold Bar was always slightly worse. Theft, meth, other drugs, highway prostitution, murder, high rates of teen pregnancies/dropouts/depression/overdoses, etc. I could go on and on.

I was Born in Brewster, Washington since my parents lived in Winthrop, where my Dad was a High School Football Coach and English teacher and My Mom, who had been a Professional Ballerina for the main Seattle Ballet Company, decided she would start teacher the students Dance. My Dad got a better job offer for a bigger school in Cle Elum and we moved there when I was about 2 years old. My Family lived there through the time I was attending Eastern Washington University

My son lives in Colville .... I have visited I think its really pretty. I keep going back and forth on relocating there.

Grew up I Sequim, now living in Bow. Sequim housing is expensive and jobs other than retail, fast food or hotels are few. And it's a shame cause it's a lovely town

I've been to all these towns, but haven't considered living in any of them full-time. Twisp is noted for rafting trips, flyfishing, hunting and snow skiing if you're an active sort of person. I was surprised at the relatively high housing prices for all these rural areas.

My late Mom would be tickled her hometown made #1. She always pronounced it CALL-ville, though.

Packwood should be on this list. It's 20 minutes from White Pass and has fast internet.

I love all the towns in Okanogan county! Watch out for the wildfires every summer though. Definitely very remote in the winter when Highway 20 shuts down.

Great list, as always, Briggs! Out of curiosity, any chance you could do a video about affordable cities with condos (preferably high-rise) with great views sometime after you're finished with the series on rural towns? I've typically lived in the suburbs throughout my life, but I'd like to eventually live in a city, and I'd prefer to pretty far above street level in hopes of avoiding some of the noise down below.

I’m glad that you liked Twisp. I grew up in Twisp and it’s a terrible place to live.

I definitely have some of these on my visit list!

Morton WA, is also the home of loggers jubilee..this lumber jack competition that takes place in the summer. It’s honestly a lot of fun !

I love you videos. I live in an amazing rural area in Washington. I've grown up here my entire life. It's actually 3 little towns that are back to back to back from one another right along the Columbia River. On the border of Washington and Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge. Through the PNW. So in Skamania there is really just one store and an amazing attraction that brings in 100s of 1000s of people every year, it's call Beacon Rock, you can climb to the top on a very well kept trail all the way to the top and see up and down the gorge for miles. Then just east 2miles is North Bonneville which has an amazing park and golf course and frisbee golf course. Right in the center is an awesome little place called the Trailhead Taproom and outdoor store. They have wonderfully food and great outdoor store for anything mountain biking or hiking which is prevalent in this area as the PCT goes right though these towns. Also the Bonneville Dam is a fun little place to tour. When touring the dam you often see 500yr old sturgeon that have swam the beautiful Columbia river. Just east is Stevenson which is where all of these town children go to high school at. As these other towns have elementary/primary schools but not highschools so they all go to SHS. And the town of Skamania has its own school district of primary grade of k-8 but not highschool, very small. That is where I sent to school until high school and my 8th graduating class was 11 kids. Very, very small. There are to many places in Stevenson to tell you about but there is plenty to do and see.we have a port there where ships go up and down with little cruises. Anyways, the older I get, more and more people keep moving here from all over the country. It's these 3 little town that I'd love to hear your statistics and whys or why nots about these towns. t's really developed tremendously since I was a kid. Im really interested to here what your discription would be as to why it's great or why it's not so great!! Could you please check out it's in Skamania County Skamnia, North Bonneville, and Stevenson. It would be fun to hear your thoughts. Thanks for your time and have a great day!

Couple good things about colville is there's plenty of work available at the local mills as well as colmac coil as well as hews craft

I’d love to hear more about the schools in these towns.

Love watching your videos! So informative.

Another criterion for your list: septic tanks. All of the beautiful islands and many rural towns in WA - you guessed it, the houses have septic tanks instead of municipal waste treatment. That, and also the distance to *good* hospitals, keeps me closer to $eattle. Pretty drone shots, btw.🌲🌦️🌲

I have been to Gold Bar. It's beautiful! Allot of people living in trailers but a beautiful place. Like Briggs said, Monroe is close and I recommend eating at Manse Teriyaki in Monroe. Best Teriyaki I've ever had.

US Highway 20 is also know for the fact that it is the longest US Highway in America,and also longer than the Longest Interstate Highway. And that is I-90. 90 would be longer but it's start or terminus depending on direction of travel is Seattle.Where US 20 starts or ends at the Oregon coast at Newport.

I moved to Washington to a beautiful island in 2016 after traveling all over the world in the military and I was raised in California. I live in a fairytale here in Northwest WA.

I love these videos! So informative.

Colville for the win!! No one can ever pronounce it correctly 😂. My family has lived near Colville for decades. We kept coming back because it's so beautiful and the locals are so friendly (helps that we're related to a lot of them lol)

These videos are great. You should really include cell service and providers in these reviews. It's more important than home Internet in my opinion

DARRINGTON WA. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL VERY SMALL TOWN.

Briggs, I'm not sure who your posting these videos for- Most of us can not afford a 'livable' home starting at "only $400K". Would love to see some videos regarding nice small towns with affordable homes, let's say in the $125- $200K range. I know the housing market is fluctuating as usual but $400-900K is far out of reach for most of us

Wow I’m extremely surprised port Townsend wasn’t on this list. I guess it is a “bigger” small town. But man it’s in just about the most beautiful and perfect location on the state, cheap housing, a hospital, little to no crime, and it’s only inhabitants are 75% old people and 25% hippies. If you like this list give port Townsend a look.

PUD stands for Public Utility District. Thanks for getting the pronunciation of Lake Chelan correct.

I have lived in Tacoma for 30 years and in my experience, going outside of I-5 South Sound area can be a bit... I'll say, off putting if you happen to be of an atypical complexion. I've driven through some of these towns & many others that just look so picturesque but then you stop for gas or to eat and you can just feel the eyes on you. I remember one school trip where stopping at a National chain Diner, all the students of a certain look were served politely right away whilst the other students waited and waited the full hour until the bus was ready to depart and were never served (and before anyone asks, it was not busy and they were not short staffed, and were pretty rude). That's not to say I haven't encountered warm or pleasant persons outside the South Sound, I'm just saying that those who are less pale should tailor expectations. But, I would guess that's true of most of rural America not just Washington State.

I live in Snohomish and it’s a great area. Close to Everett and Seattle, low crime, good healthcare, good internet, and amazing views

Nothing on the Olympic Peninsula? I expected to see a town near Forks or Port Angeles on this list. I only lived in Clallam Bay for 1 year but I loved every minute of it. Not the best on medical facilities but Forks and Port Angeles were still close enough.

I can speak highly of Dayton. I moved there at the beginning of last winter (2022) to track and chase wolves off of Calving Pastures for WDFW. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THE TOWN, AND THE GREAT PEOPLE THAT LIVE THERE. I CAN ALSO VOUCH FOR A DATE IN GENERAL, BACK IN MAY 2023 I WAS RIDING BUCKING HORSES AT OUR LOCAL RODEO AND HAD A VERY SERIOUS ACCIDENT. DAYTON GENERAL WAS ABLE TO get me stabilized, and get me a helicopter flight out to Tri-Cities. I can also vouch for the Internet. It sucks.

PUD is Public Utility District. They oversee water and sewer for most rural areas of the state.

Fall City, Prestion, High point and the rest of the Snoqualmie Valley. We are ligit under 1 hr away from seattle and there is a ER in issaquah abt 20-40 mon away. Beautiful place with farmland and corn and cows.

Great job again Briggs ! But.........Colville is pronounced Call-ville not Coal-ville . The Residents are quite sensitive to this miss-pronunciation! Also it's only a 50 minute drive to Spokane proper and 1 hour to downtown Spokane . ✌😁

When I was in WA, I lived in Riverside (population 150), but would often go to the coop in Tonasket. I liked it. In WA, especially in the northern places, you can get an enhanced driver's license. It has a visa on it for Canada. Where I lived, I had to go to Wenatchee to get that.

Thinking about checking out Goldendale this summer. Looks like a little paradise

We discovered Ilwaco after retiring and are moving here from Snohomish County. Ilwaco is a historic town with great fishing opportunities, the Long Beach peninsula and Cape Disappointment State Park. We have a hospital and other medical services. We are 15 miles from sales tax free Astoria which has the other services we need. Visitors who are shocked by the trashy appearance when taking Highway 101 through town should instead take the loop to the marina for a better impression.

Prosser is a good one, especially for wine enthusiasts. Glenwood is scenic and nice place to get away from the rat race.

love your video's. sad to say I am one of those people where my price range is 200000 or less so none of your places you do are in my price range. one of the poor people. but keep up the good work.

The greater Colville area is awesome. Kettle Falls, just down the road has access to Lake Roosevelt with miles of water sports and house boats to rent. Hundreds of excellent lakes around to fish as well, and a few good restaurants within reach. In recent years, just like most of WA the summers stink due to the wild fire smoke which get to the point of being unhealthy.

I've lived in or near Dayton for the last 24 years. A few things... we just recently got gigabit internet through inland cellelar and the local inland store has phenomonal customer service. The grocery store here is pricey and inconsistent on quality. You have to drive to either Walla Walla, Kennewick or Clarkston to get reasonably priced groceries. Driving to Walla Walla is going to be necessary for many other services. The 45 minute drive can get old after a while. Especially with gas prices sitting above $4.50 for the last few years. That said if you plan ahead and buy most of your groceries bulk this isn't really an issue. The Dayton Historic Sociaty is very active and always looking for volunteers so if you like history and want to be involved its really accessible. Dayton is also the closest town to bluewood ski resort. There are a lot of seasonal job opportunities in the summer and employment at bluewood is a great option for finding work in the winter months. Overall, I think Dayton is a great place to live. But you have to me smart or the cost of living can be a little high for the jobs that are available

Our State doesn't need more people! The quality of life has declined because the population explosion in Washington State. The homeless drug addicts, the crime, the drug dealers... it's all over the state now, just in the last 15 years. It's gone to hell, and no, it's no longer affordable here. The cost of living exceeds nearly all median incomes. Forget it if you're at minimum wage, especially Thurston Co. Where I was born and still live. The politics are horidly out of control as well. But hey, if you're a rabid, salivating liberal, you'll fit in with the new croud.

Twisp . Good call. Good number 2, although I would flip it with tonasket

great choices, but enumclaw should be up there, low crime, great public schools, perfect location, 1 hour from seattle, 1 hour from mt. rainer. and a hospital in town. all of the big city and rural amenities and i grew up in kent then moved to enumclaw in high school, one of the best decisions my parents ever made.

It feels good to have your home town number 1 on a list

I love Gold Bar Washington! It’s beautiful. We used to spend Christmas in gold bar!