Best Places98115, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98115, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
98115 ranks 369th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98115
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
98115's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98115 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Household income$166,506 median, better than 98% of zip codes
Where 98115 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98115
A household needs to earn about $286,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98115 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $166,506, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 98115's effective rate of 0.65%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 98115
98115's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98115.
Who works in 98115, and how
Work in 98115 centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 43%
- Work from home 37%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in 98115
98115 has more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. The coast is about 8 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of 98115 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98115, month by month
98115 sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 98115
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 16 miles away.
98115 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 98115 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98115 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 37% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 98115
Is 98115 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98115 ranks 369th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98115 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,118,927. The overall cost of living runs about 32% above the national average. Set against a $166,506 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.
Is 98115 safe?
98115 is safer than 10% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $799 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98115?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 151 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of zip codes.
Is 98115 good for families?
Schools beat 76% of zip codes, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $2,022 a month.
Compare 98115 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98115. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98115 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
98115 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98115: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98115: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98115: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98115: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98115 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.