Best PlacesChelan County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Chelan County, 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.
Chelan County ranks 323rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Chelan 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 Chelan County
The parts of Chelan 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.
Sunnyslope
Local pay stretches further, more residents vote, and incomes run higher.
Wenatchee
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Leavenworth, Cashmere & Peshastin
Tree cover is thicker and more adults hold degrees.
Chelan & Manson
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Malaga
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Chelan County run from about the 17th to the 98th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Chelan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chelan County ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 175 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 91% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of counties
Where Chelan County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,077 a month, better than only 13% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Chelan County
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chelan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $88,280, 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 Chelan County's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Chelan County
Chelan County'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 Chelan County.
Who works in Chelan County, and how
Work in Chelan 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 80%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Chelan County
Chelan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Chelan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chelan County growing, and who is moving in?
Chelan County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Wenatchee, WA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chelan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chelan County, month by month
Chelan County sees roughly 175 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 92° | 77° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Chelan County
The nearest airport, Pangborn Memorial, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 92 miles away.
Chelan 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 Chelan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Chelan County suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Common questions about living in Chelan County
Is Chelan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chelan County ranks 323rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and clean air, and lowest on state infrastructure and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chelan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $502,649. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $88,280 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Chelan County safe?
Yes, Chelan County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $369 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chelan County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 23. That works out to about 175 pleasant days a year, more than 97% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chelan County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sunnyslope, Wenatchee, and Leavenworth, Cashmere & Peshastin. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Chelan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chelan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chelan 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.
Chelan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chelan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chelan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chelan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chelan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chelan 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.