Best Places99101, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 99101, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
99101 ranks 14,867th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Biking pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low taxes.
The best neighborhoods in 99101
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.
99101's strengths and weaknesses
Where 99101 ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 84% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 81% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 74% of zip codes
Where 99101 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 99101
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 99101 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,458, 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 99101's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 99101
99101 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 99101.
Who works in 99101, and how
Work in 99101 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 99101
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 99101.
What the weather is like in 99101, month by month
99101 sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 46° | 31° |
| July | 89° | 70° | 48° |
| October | 61° | 45° | 31° |
Flying in and out of 99101
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 212 miles away.
99101 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 99101 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 99101
Is 99101 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 99101 ranks 14,867th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on biking and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 99101 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $367,714. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $82,458 median income, cost of living beats 60% of zip codes.
Is 99101 safe?
Yes, 99101 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $332 per resident a year.
Compare 99101 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 99101. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 99101 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.
99101 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 99101: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 99101: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 99101: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 99101: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
99101 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.