Best PlacesBeacon Hill, Seattle, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Beacon Hill, Seattle, 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.
Beacon Hill, Seattle ranks 2,025th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Beacon Hill, Seattle
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.
Beacon Hill, Seattle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Beacon Hill, Seattle ranks high
- TransitBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
Where Beacon Hill, Seattle ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Beacon Hill, Seattle
A household needs to earn about $191,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Beacon Hill, Seattle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,948, 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 Beacon Hill, Seattle's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Beacon Hill, Seattle
Beacon Hill, Seattle's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Beacon Hill, Seattle.
Who works in Beacon Hill, Seattle, and how
Work in Beacon Hill, Seattle centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 21%
Life in Beacon Hill, Seattle
Beacon Hill, Seattle has more parkland per resident than 78% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Beacon Hill, Seattle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Beacon Hill, Seattle, month by month
Beacon Hill, Seattle sees roughly 152 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 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° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Beacon Hill, Seattle
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 7 miles away.
Beacon Hill, Seattle 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 Beacon Hill, Seattle against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Beacon Hill, Seattle suits
Common questions about living in Beacon Hill, Seattle
Is Beacon Hill, Seattle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Beacon Hill, Seattle ranks 2,025th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, clean air, and a strong job market, 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 Beacon Hill, Seattle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $738,795. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $105,948 median income, cost of living beats 58% of neighborhoods.
Is Beacon Hill, Seattle safe?
Beacon Hill, Seattle is safer than 16% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,064 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Beacon Hill, Seattle?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 152 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of neighborhoods.
Is Beacon Hill, Seattle good for families?
Schools beat 73% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $2,022 a month.
Compare Beacon Hill, Seattle with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Beacon Hill, Seattle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Beacon Hill, Seattle 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.
Beacon Hill, Seattle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Beacon Hill, Seattle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Beacon Hill, Seattle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Beacon Hill, Seattle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Beacon Hill, Seattle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Beacon Hill, Seattle 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.