Best Places98531, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98531, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
98531 ranks 20,157th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98531
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.
98531's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98531 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 98531 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter 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
What it costs to buy a home in 98531
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98531 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,676, 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 98531'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 98531
98531 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98531.
Who works in 98531, and how
Work in 98531 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 98531
98531 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 92% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 98531 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98531, month by month
98531 sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 41° | 37° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 81° | 66° | 54° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 98531
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 59 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98531 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 98531 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98531 suits
Families
Schools land around the 30th percentile and crime safety beats 71%.
Common questions about living in 98531
Is 98531 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98531 ranks 20,157th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, few empty homes, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk 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 98531 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $344,600. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $68,676 median income, cost of living beats 22% of zip codes.
Is 98531 safe?
Yes, 98531 is safer than 71% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $358 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98531?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 37. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 73% of zip codes.
Is 98531 good for families?
Schools beat 30% of zip codes, crime safety beats 71%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Compare 98531 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98531. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98531 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.
98531 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98531: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98531: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98531: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98531: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98531 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.