Best PlacesEdmonds, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Edmonds, 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.
Edmonds ranks 154th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Edmonds
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 Edmonds
The parts of Edmonds, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Maplewood Hills
Seaview
Meadowdale & Picnic Point
Esperance
Downtown Edmonds & Edmonds Bowl
Lake Ballinger
Scores across Edmonds run from about the 60th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Edmonds' strengths and weaknesses
Where Edmonds ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 95% of cities
- Household income$140,114 median, better than 88% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of cities
- BikingBetter than 86% of cities
Where Edmonds ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 13% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 32% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Edmonds
A household needs to earn about $232,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Edmonds home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $140,114, 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 Edmonds' effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Edmonds
Edmonds 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 Edmonds.
Who works in Edmonds, and how
Work in Edmonds 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 65%
- Work from home 28%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Edmonds
Edmonds has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 3 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Edmonds and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Edmonds, month by month
Edmonds sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 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 | 59° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 52° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Edmonds
The nearest airport, Seattle Paine Field International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 25 miles away.
Edmonds 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 Edmonds against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Edmonds suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 28% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 78% of cities, health care access beats 70%, and it is quieter than 68%.
Common questions about living in Edmonds
Is Edmonds a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Edmonds ranks 154th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, transit, and high incomes, 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 Edmonds expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $905,249. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $140,114 median income, cost of living beats 76% of cities.
Is Edmonds safe?
Yes, Edmonds is safer than 68% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Edmonds?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Edmonds?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Maplewood Hills, Seaview, and Meadowdale & Picnic Point. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Edmonds with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Edmonds. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Edmonds 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.
Edmonds detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Edmonds: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Edmonds: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Edmonds: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Edmonds: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Edmonds 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.