The Bainbridge Community Foundation issued its annual report ranking the quality of 10 factors of life on Bainbridge Island, and how well nonprofits are addressing each category.

On average, the island scored 3.3/5, with categories like connection to place, culture and education showing strong community support, but affordability, economic opportunity and health services lagging far behind.

Now in its 12th year, BCF’s Community Health Report collects input from 70 nonprofit leaders in Kitsap County and supplements the feedback with county, state and national data. Survey participants are asked about the 10 elements of a “sustainable and supportive community,” based on the World Health Organization’s “Eight Domains of Livability,” and asked to rank how well the community has addressed each area.

“While we acknowledge this is a question reflecting the perspectives of nonprofit leaders, and there is complexity behind each of these ratings, we also see nonprofit leaders as engaged, informed and connected community members who can help identify needs and opportunities,” wrote report contributors Dana Binnendijk, Dominique Cantwell, Jim Hopper, Jessica Henshaw.

Affordability, “an area that has an impact on virtually all of the others,” scored the lowest, Cantwell said. Salaries have not kept pace with the cost of living on BI, in part because housing prices have skyrocketed, she explained.

Since 2014, the median home price on BI has more than doubled, reaching $1.2 million in 2024. A household would need an annual income of at least $300,000 to afford an average property, which is a major obstacle to residents with a single income, report contributors said.

“These numbers show the particular vulnerability of individuals without dual incomes: families experiencing divorce, younger people trying to enter the job market or seniors who are getting priced out of their own community,” they wrote. “If women with children lose a higher-income partner, making enough income to stay in the local community here, considering the housing market and cost of living, can be a very real challenge.”

Families hoping to rent a home see similar challenges. In three years, the amount of income needed for a family of four, went from $78,000 per year in 2020 to $102,000 in 2023 in Bainbridge and North Kitsap — a 30% increase.

Housing costs have far outpaced salaries, which has driven down economic opportunity on BI; which ranked as the second-lowest category, BCF found. Finding a job on BI that matches the cost of living is becoming harder.

“If there are few economic opportunities, this can lead to a less socioeconomically diverse population and can strain local businesses that need minimum wage employees to stay afloat,” contributors wrote. “As many of these employees move to live in more affordable areas off the island, they will either find jobs closer to home or struggle to find public transportation to match their working hours.”

BI’s largest employer, the school district, has no employees who would be able to afford a home BI as the sole earner of a household. About 68% of BISD staff make less than the self-sufficiency standard. But it’s not just teachers: entry-level police officers, daycare workers, food service staff, assisted living caregivers and most nonprofit staff also earn well below the self-sufficiency standard. About 70% of nonprofit workers make $61,000 per year or less, which is considered low income on BI.

BCF reports that four nonprofits are dedicated to alleviating the strain on the housing market, and the city of Bainbridge has earmarked funds for affordable housing projects. But it will take change across many sectors, including transportation and health services to make progress, Cantwell said.

“That’s something that has a huge impact on our ability to live and work and engage with this community in a lot of ways,” Cantwell said. “This has been an issue for some time, and it’s continuing to be. I think we all feel it.”

On the other side of the fence, “Connection to Place” scored the highest. Over 90% of survey respondents rated BI’s natural resources and parks programming positively, which contributes to the physical and mental health of a community. Bainbridge has 61.6 acres per every 1,000 residents, about 50 more acres than the national average.

“There are a number of studies that show that access to green space has really positive impacts on health, social cohesion and can have tertiary benefits to civic participation. So this is an area in which we contribute to trend really positively,” Cantwell said.

To read the report, go to: https://bainbridgecf.org/forms-logos/reports.