Best Places98335, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98335, 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.
98335 ranks 1,871st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 98335
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.
98335's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98335 ranks high
- Household income$143,528 median, better than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 98335 ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 13% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 39% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98335
A household needs to earn about $211,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98335 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $143,528, 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 98335's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 98335
98335 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98335.
Who works in 98335, and how
Work in 98335 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 98335
The coast is about 13 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98335, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98335, month by month
98335 sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 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 | 60° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 98335
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 17 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98335 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 98335 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98335 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of zip codes and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 82% of zip codes and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in 98335
Is 98335 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98335 ranks 1,871st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on high incomes, clean air, and civic engagement, and lowest on state infrastructure 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 98335 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $813,623. The overall cost of living runs about 17% above the national average. Set against a $143,528 median income, cost of living beats 92% of zip codes.
Is 98335 safe?
Yes, 98335 is safer than 74% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $336 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98335?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of zip codes.
Is 98335 good for families?
Schools beat 74% of zip codes, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Compare 98335 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98335. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98335 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.
98335 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98335: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98335: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98335: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98335: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98335 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.