Web Design in Stevenson, Washington

What a web designer should know about Stevenson

Stevenson is the seat of Skamania County, which puts the courthouse and county offices in town. Visitors who come in for county business often need something else while they are here: lunch, a copy shop, a notary, a mechanic. A page that says which parts of the county you serve saves a call from everyone who lives outside Stevenson.

Hot months, wet months: Stevenson through the year

The nearest NOAA station with 1991-2020 climate normals, Bonneville Dam, is 4.9 miles from Stevenson. It records an average high of 80°F in August and an average low of 34°F in January. Precipitation totals about 80 inches a year, with December the wettest month. Freezing nights (32°F or below) come about 33 times a year. Wet seasons bring roof leaks and water damage, and the searches come in the same hour the water does. If you offer emergency or same-week service in bad weather, say so in plain words and make the contact form fast to fill in.

Stevenson in figures

Homes in Stevenson have a median value of $496,500, and renters pay a median of $960 a month, compared with $564,600 and $1,760 statewide. The median household income is $76,563, about 22% below the Washington median of $98,141.

Year after year the count goes up: 1,522 in 2021, 1,562 in 2022, 1,587 in 2023, 1,591 in 2024, 1,596 in 2025. That compares with +3.8% for Washington as a whole. For a local business, newcomers are the easiest customers to win and the hardest to reach without a website.

The businesses that compete for customers in Stevenson

Stevenson shares ZIP code 98648 with the surrounding area, where 101 employer businesses were counted in 2023. A few examples from the same count:

• Hotels and motels (4): rooms, photos, location and a contact form, so travelers can compare you outside the booking apps.
• Custom home builders (7): floor plans and photos of homes you have built, the lots or areas you build in and a way to start a conversation.
• Coffee shops and snack bars (4): the menu, hours and photos of the place, so people find you before they walk in.

Across Skamania County, County Business Patterns counted 214 employer establishments in 2023, and the Nonemployer Statistics add 904 businesses with no payroll, most of them self-employed owners. One sector stands out in Skamania County: homebuilders and building contractors, with 21 establishments and 3.2 times the national share. What their websites need: finished homes by project, the steps of building with you and the areas you build in. Specialty trade contractors are also overrepresented (23, 1.7 times the national share). The jobs Stevenson residents hold are mostly in construction (10.8%) and manufacturing (10.1%).

Designing a website around Stevenson’s customers

24.3% of workers are employed by a federal, state or local government (16.0% in Washington). Stable government payrolls support steady local spending on services.

8.9% of the housing units in Stevenson are held for seasonal or occasional use. Property owners who are out of town need a website and a contact form, not a storefront.

Reaching customers beyond the Stevenson city limits

Within a short drive of Stevenson you find Cascade Locks, OR (1.9 miles), North Bonneville (5.2 miles), Hood River, OR (18 miles), White Salmon (20 miles), Bingen (20 miles) and Washougal (23 miles). Cascade Locks State Airport (CZK) is 1.5 miles southeast of Stevenson in a straight line. 7 municipalities lie within 25 miles, each with its own customers. Gresham, OR, a city of 111,513, is 30 miles southwest. With 970 residents per square mile on 1.6 square miles of land and 0.1 square miles of water, Stevenson is moderately dense by Washington standards. A service area page that lists the towns you cover, from Stevenson to North Bonneville and Hood River, answers the first question many customers have: do you come to me?

Skamania County: 12,669 residents (2025) in 2 incorporated places. Across Skamania County, households have a median income of $93,265, and half the residents are older than 48.5. 89.3% of households have broadband and 11.0% rely on a cellphone data plan alone. 80.0% of households own their home.

Running a website from Stevenson: the Washington rules

A few rules apply to any Stevenson business that sells or advertises online:

• Fake or bought reviews are illegal under a federal rule in force since 2024 (16 CFR Part 465): post only real ones. 16 CFR Part 465
• Washington’s state retail sales tax rate is 6.5%, with a local rate added depending on the city or county. Washington State Department of Revenue
• Local business tax receipts in Washington can come from the county and, inside city or town limits, from the municipality: for you, Skamania County and Stevenson. Official source

This is general information, not legal advice. Your county, your city hall or an attorney can confirm what applies to you.

From sign-up to a live website

Aria has built websites since 2008 and is based in Curitiba, Brazil. Nobody from Aria will visit: material and questions travel by email, and you approve the website on a temporary link.

1. The sign-up at cadastro.ariaserv.com/en takes about 5 minutes; your logo and photos go by email.
2. We build it with your brand on a proven professional template and send a temporary link within 5 business days.
3. Approve it: the first monthly fee is issued and your domain starts showing the new site.

Hosting, the SSL certificate, daily backups and security updates are on us, and content changes you send by email are included.