Best Places98255, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98255, 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.
98255 ranks 11,842nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98255
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.
98255's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98255 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 98255 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98255
A household needs to earn about $118,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98255 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,000, 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 98255's effective rate of 0.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 98255
98255 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98255.
Who works in 98255, and how
Work in 98255 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 98255
The coast is about 32 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98255, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98255, month by month
98255 sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 41° | 37° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 43° |
| July | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| October | 60° | 52° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 98255
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 76 miles away.
98255 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 98255 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98255
Is 98255 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98255 ranks 11,842nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs 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 98255 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $456,000. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $85,000 median income, cost of living beats 42% of zip codes.
Is 98255 safe?
98255 is safer than 33% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $505 per resident a year.
Compare 98255 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98255. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98255 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.
98255 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98255: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98255: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98255: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98255: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98255 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.