Best PlacesBenton County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Benton County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Benton County ranks 156th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $97,637, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state infrastructure, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Benton County
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.
The best areas in Benton County
The parts of Benton County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
West Richland & Benton City
It is quieter, crime runs lower, and more households have young kids.
Richland
More adults hold degrees and biking is better.
Kennewick
Schools score lower.
Prosser
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Benton County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 12% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Benton County's strengths and weaknesses
Benton County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Low crime and the weather follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, state infrastructure, and thin health care access hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Benton County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
Where Benton County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,102 a month, better than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Benton County
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Benton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $97,637; 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 Benton County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Benton County
Benton County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Benton County.
Who works in Benton County, and how
Work in Benton County 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 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Benton County
Benton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more parkland per resident than 73% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Benton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Benton County growing, and who is moving in?
Benton County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Kennewick, WA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Benton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Benton County, month by month
Benton County sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Benton County
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Benton County
Schools across Benton County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- A C Houghton Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Benton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Benton County 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 Benton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Benton County suits
Families
Schools land around the 34th percentile and crime safety beats 94%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Benton County
Is Benton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Benton County ranks 156th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, low crime, and the weather, 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 Benton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $412,595. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $97,637 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Benton County safe?
Yes, Benton County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Benton County?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 29. That works out to about 158 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Benton County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are West Richland & Benton City, Richland, and Kennewick. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Benton County good for families?
Schools beat 34% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,102 a month.
Is Benton County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Benton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Benton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Benton County 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.
Benton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Benton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Benton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Benton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Benton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Benton County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.