Best PlacesFerry County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ferry County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ferry County ranks 2,510th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ferry 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.
Ferry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ferry County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 81% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of counties
Where Ferry County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ferry County
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ferry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $54,432, 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 Ferry County's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Ferry County
Ferry 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 Ferry County.
Who works in Ferry County, and how
Work in Ferry County centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Ferry County
Ferry County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ferry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ferry County growing, and who is moving in?
Ferry County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Spokane, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ferry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ferry County, month by month
Ferry County sees roughly 126 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 Ferry County
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 83 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 193 miles away.
Ferry 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 Ferry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Ferry County
Is Ferry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ferry County ranks 2,510th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and low taxes, and lowest on cell coverage and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ferry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,682. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $54,432 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Ferry County safe?
Ferry County is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Ferry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ferry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ferry 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.
Ferry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ferry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ferry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ferry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ferry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ferry 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.