Best Places98536, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98536, 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.
98536 ranks 23,984th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98536
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.
98536's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98536 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 98536 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Disaster 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
- BikingBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98536
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98536 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $66,775; 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 98536's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 98536
98536 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98536.
Who works in 98536, and how
Work in 98536 centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 98536
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98536, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98536, month by month
98536 sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 43° | 38° |
| April | 58° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 70° | 61° | 54° |
| October | 62° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 98536
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 88 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98536 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 98536 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98536
Is 98536 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98536 ranks 23,984th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, quiet, and a strong job market, and lowest on empty homes and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98536 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,800. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $66,775 median income, cost of living beats 19% of zip codes.
Is 98536 safe?
98536 is safer than 21% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $597 per resident a year.
Compare 98536 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98536. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98536 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.
98536 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98536: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98536: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98536: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98536: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98536 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.