Best Places98603, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98603, 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.
98603 ranks 23,332nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98603
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.
98603's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98603 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 72% of zip codes
Where 98603 ranks low
- Short commute43.0 minutes each way, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% 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 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98603
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98603 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $73,101, 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 98603's effective rate of 0.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 98603
98603 runs older 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 98603.
Who works in 98603, and how
Work in 98603 centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 98603
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 98603.
What the weather is like in 98603, month by month
98603 sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 35° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 82° | 66° | 55° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 98603
Portland International sits about 29 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
98603 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 98603 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98603
Is 98603 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98603 ranks 23,332nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98603 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,481. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $73,101 median income, cost of living beats 21% of zip codes.
Is 98603 safe?
Yes, 98603 is safer than 59% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $376 per resident a year.
Compare 98603 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98603. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98603 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.
98603 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98603: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98603: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98603: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98603: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98603 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.