Best PlacesElmer City, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elmer City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elmer City ranks 18,846th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elmer City
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.
Elmer City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elmer City ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute17.0 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 139 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 86% of towns
Where Elmer City ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elmer City
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elmer City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,414, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Elmer City's effective rate of 0.52%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elmer City
Elmer City'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 Elmer City.
Who works in Elmer City, and how
Work in Elmer City centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Elmer City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elmer City.
What the weather is like in Elmer City, month by month
Elmer City sees roughly 139 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 23° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 35° |
| July | 94° | 77° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Elmer City
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 162 miles away.
Elmer City 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 Elmer City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elmer City
Is Elmer City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elmer City ranks 18,846th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elmer City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,125. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $65,414 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Elmer City safe?
Yes, Elmer City is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
Compare Elmer City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elmer City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elmer City 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.
Elmer City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elmer City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elmer City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elmer City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elmer City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elmer City 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.