Best Places98357, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98357, 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.
98357 ranks 24,633rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 98357
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.
98357's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98357 ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 96% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 98357 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98357
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98357 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,269, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 a national 0.90% effective rate, since no local rate is published, 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 98357
98357 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 98357.
Who works in 98357, and how
Work in 98357 centers on public administration and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 98357
The coast is about 32 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98357, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98357, month by month
98357 sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 71 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 71° | 60° | 51° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 98357
The nearest airport, Friday Harbor, is about 74 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 124 miles away.
98357 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 98357 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98357
Is 98357 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98357 ranks 24,633rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98357 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,664. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $52,269 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 98357 safe?
98357 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $584 per resident a year.
Compare 98357 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98357. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98357 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.
98357 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98357: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98357: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98357: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98357: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98357 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.