Best Places98237, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98237, 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.
98237 ranks 26,734th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98237
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.
98237's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98237 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 98237 ranks low
- Short commute43.4 minutes each way, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98237
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98237 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,776, 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 98237's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 98237
98237'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 98237.
Who works in 98237, and how
Work in 98237 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 98237
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98237, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98237, month by month
98237 sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 36° | 32° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 81° | 65° | 53° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 98237
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 78 miles away.
98237 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 98237 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98237
Is 98237 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98237 ranks 26,734th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and low taxes, and lowest on long commutes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98237 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $399,909. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $67,776 median income, cost of living beats 16% of zip codes.
Is 98237 safe?
98237 is safer than 10% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,377 per resident a year.
Compare 98237 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98237. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98237 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.
98237 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98237: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98237: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98237: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98237: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98237 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.