Best Places98438, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98438, 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.
98438 ranks 24,785th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98438
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.
98438's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98438 ranks high
- Short commute13.6 minutes each way, better than 98% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 98438 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
Who lives in 98438
98438 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 98438.
Who works in 98438, and how
Work in 98438 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in 98438
The coast is about 14 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98438, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98438, month by month
98438 sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 40° | 32° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 67° | 51° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 98438
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98438 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 98438 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98438
Is 98438 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98438 ranks 24,785th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, population health, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98438 safe?
98438 is safer than 11% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $774 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98438?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 32. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of zip codes.
Compare 98438 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98438. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98438 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.
98438 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98438: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98438: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98438: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98438: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98438 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.
- 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.