Best Places98544, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98544, 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.
98544 ranks 12,131st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 98544
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.
98544's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98544 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 98544 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter 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
What it costs to buy a home in 98544
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98544 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,353, 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 98544's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 98544
98544 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 98544.
Who works in 98544, and how
Work in 98544 centers on construction and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 98544
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 98544.
What the weather is like in 98544, month by month
98544 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 98544
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 60 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
98544 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 98544 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98544
Is 98544 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98544 ranks 12,131st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on internet speeds 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 98544 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $475,300. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $82,353 median income, cost of living beats 40% of zip codes.
Is 98544 safe?
Yes, 98544 is safer than 99% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
Compare 98544 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98544. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98544 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.
98544 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98544: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98544: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98544: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98544: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98544 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.