Best Places98649, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98649, 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.
98649 ranks 15,970th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98649
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.
98649's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98649 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 80% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 76% of zip codes
Where 98649 ranks low
- Short commute41.4 minutes each way, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% 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 98649
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98649 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $83,718; 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 98649's effective rate of 0.56%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 98649
98649 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98649.
Who works in 98649, and how
Work in 98649 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 98649
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 98649.
What the weather is like in 98649, month by month
98649 sees roughly 75 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 98649
Portland International sits about 51 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
98649 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 98649 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 98649
Is 98649 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98649 ranks 15,970th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on long commutes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98649 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $356,968. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $83,718 median income, cost of living beats 53% of zip codes.
Is 98649 safe?
Yes, 98649 is safer than 76% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $304 per resident a year.
Compare 98649 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98649. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98649 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.
98649 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98649: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98649: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98649: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98649: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98649 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.