Best PlacesClallam County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clallam County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clallam County ranks 594th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clallam 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 Clallam County
The parts of Clallam 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.
Sequim
Fewer homes sit empty, more residents vote, and health care is easier to reach.
Port Angeles
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Forks
More households have young kids, though advertised internet is slower.
Clallam County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Clallam County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clallam County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
- BikingBetter than 88% of counties
Where Clallam County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clallam County
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clallam County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $71,559, 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 Clallam 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 Clallam County
Clallam County runs older than the country, 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 Clallam County.
Who works in Clallam County, and how
Work in Clallam 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 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Clallam County
Clallam County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. The coast is about 9 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clallam County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clallam County growing, and who is moving in?
Clallam County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clallam County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clallam County, month by month
Clallam County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 42° | 38° |
| April | 54° | 48° | 42° |
| July | 65° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 56° | 50° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Clallam County
The nearest airport, Friday Harbor, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 69 miles away.
Clallam 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 Clallam County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clallam County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 69% of counties, health care access beats 55%, and it is quieter than 64%.
Common questions about living in Clallam County
Is Clallam County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clallam County ranks 594th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low crime, and transit, 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 Clallam County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $428,444. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $71,559 median income, cost of living beats 25% of counties.
Is Clallam County safe?
Yes, Clallam County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clallam County?
July highs average about 65 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 38. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clallam County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sequim, Port Angeles, and Forks. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clallam County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clallam County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clallam 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.
Clallam County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clallam County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clallam County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clallam County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clallam County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clallam 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.