Best Places98643, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98643, 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.
98643 ranks 25,446th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98643
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.
98643's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98643 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 73% of zip codes
Where 98643 ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Short commute40.9 minutes each way, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98643
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98643 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $64,524; 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 98643's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 98643
98643 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 98643.
Who works in 98643, and how
Work in 98643 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 98643
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 98643, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98643, month by month
98643 sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 44° | 37° |
| April | 59° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 70° | 61° | 53° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 98643
Portland International sits about 71 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
98643 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 98643 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98643
Is 98643 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98643 ranks 25,446th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on disaster risk and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98643 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,000. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $64,524 median income, cost of living beats 32% of zip codes.
Is 98643 safe?
Yes, 98643 is safer than 69% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare 98643 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98643. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98643 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.
98643 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98643: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98643: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98643: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98643: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98643 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.