Best Places98204, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98204, 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.
98204 ranks 15,265th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98204
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.
98204's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98204 ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 98204 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98204
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98204 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,285, 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 98204's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 98204
98204 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98204.
Who works in 98204, and how
Work in 98204 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 98204
The coast is about 6 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98204, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98204, month by month
98204 sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 59° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 52° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 98204
The nearest airport, Seattle Paine Field International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 31 miles away.
98204 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 98204 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98204 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 98204
Is 98204 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98204 ranks 15,265th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on transit, clean air, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98204 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $463,864. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $75,285 median income, cost of living beats 22% of zip codes.
Is 98204 safe?
98204 is safer than 32% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $550 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98204?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 130 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of zip codes.
Is 98204 good for families?
Schools beat 25% of zip codes, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $1,516 a month.
Compare 98204 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98204. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98204 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.
98204 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98204: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98204: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98204: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98204: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98204 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.