Best Places98416, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98416, 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.
98416 ranks 306th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 98416
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.
98416's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98416 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$250,001 median, better than 99% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of zip codes
Where 98416 ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 13% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98416
A household needs to earn about $265,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98416 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $250,001; 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 98416's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 98416
98416 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98416.
Who works in 98416, and how
Work in 98416 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 36%
Life in 98416
The coast is about 7 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98416, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98416, month by month
98416 sees roughly 129 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 98416
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 15 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98416 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 98416 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98416
Is 98416 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98416 ranks 306th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, biking, and high incomes, and lowest on civic engagement and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98416 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,003,300. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $250,001 median income, cost of living beats 100% of zip codes.
Is 98416 safe?
98416 is safer than 13% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $732 per resident a year.
Compare 98416 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98416. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98416 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.
98416 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98416: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98416: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98416: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98416: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98416 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.