Best Places98661, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 98661, 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.
98661 ranks 14,598th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 98661
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.
98661's strengths and weaknesses
Where 98661 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 98661 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 11% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 98661
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 98661 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $79,841, 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 98661's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 98661
98661 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 98661.
Who works in 98661, and how
Work in 98661 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 98661
98661 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 98661 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 98661, month by month
98661 sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 98661
Portland International sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
98661 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 98661 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 98661 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 98661
Is 98661 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 98661 ranks 14,598th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, cell coverage, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 98661 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,864. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $79,841 median income, cost of living beats 39% of zip codes.
Is 98661 safe?
98661 is safer than 29% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $562 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 98661?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 34. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of zip codes.
Is 98661 good for families?
Schools beat 23% of zip codes, crime safety beats 29%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Compare 98661 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 98661. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 98661 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.
98661 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 98661: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 98661: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 98661: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 98661: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
98661 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.