Best Places98188, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98188, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
98188 ranks 19,697th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98188
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.
98188's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98188 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 98188 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98188
A household needs to earn about $136,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98188 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,401, 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 98188's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 98188
98188's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98188.
Who works in 98188, and how
Work in 98188 centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in 98188
98188 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 80% of zip codes. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 98188 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98188, month by month
98188 sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 61° | 51° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 67° | 56° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 98188
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 2 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98188 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 98188 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98188 suits
Common questions about living in 98188
Is 98188 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98188 ranks 19,697th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, clean air, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98188 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $509,951. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $84,401 median income, cost of living beats 38% of zip codes.
Is 98188 safe?
98188 is safer than 16% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $687 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98188?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 36. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of zip codes.
Is 98188 good for families?
Schools beat 15% of zip codes, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $2,022 a month.
Compare 98188 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98188. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98188 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.
98188 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98188: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98188: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98188: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98188: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98188 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.