Best Places98336, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98336, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
98336 ranks 21,641st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98336
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.
98336's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98336 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 98336 ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 11% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98336
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98336 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $61,979; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 98336's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 98336
98336 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98336.
Who works in 98336, and how
Work in 98336 centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 98336
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 98336.
What the weather is like in 98336, month by month
98336 sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 35° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 82° | 67° | 54° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 98336
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 64 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98336 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 98336 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98336
Is 98336 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98336 ranks 21,641st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, quiet, and low crime, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay 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 98336 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,787. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $61,979 median income, cost of living beats 8% of zip codes.
Is 98336 safe?
Yes, 98336 is safer than 92% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
Compare 98336 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98336. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98336 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.
98336 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98336: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98336: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98336: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98336: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98336 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.