Best PlacesCentral, Tacoma, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central, Tacoma, 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.
Central, Tacoma ranks 2,845th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central, Tacoma
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.
Central, Tacoma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central, Tacoma ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
Where Central, Tacoma ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 34% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Central, Tacoma
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central, Tacoma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $81,655, 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 Central, Tacoma's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Central, Tacoma
Central, Tacoma's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central, Tacoma.
Who works in Central, Tacoma, and how
Work in Central, Tacoma centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Central, Tacoma
Central, Tacoma has more parkland per resident than 69% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 4 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Central, Tacoma and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central, Tacoma, month by month
Central, Tacoma sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Central, Tacoma
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 16 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
Central, Tacoma 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 Central, Tacoma against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Central, Tacoma suits
Retirees
The weather beats 64% of neighborhoods and it is quieter than 58%.
Common questions about living in Central, Tacoma
Is Central, Tacoma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central, Tacoma ranks 2,845th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, few empty homes, and low taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central, Tacoma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $487,714. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $81,655 median income, cost of living beats 43% of neighborhoods.
Is Central, Tacoma safe?
Central, Tacoma is safer than 27% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $867 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Central, Tacoma?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of neighborhoods.
Is Central, Tacoma good for families?
Schools beat 51% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 27%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Compare Central, Tacoma with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central, Tacoma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central, Tacoma 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.
Central, Tacoma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central, Tacoma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central, Tacoma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central, Tacoma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central, Tacoma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central, Tacoma 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.