Best PlacesGarfield County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Garfield 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.
Garfield County ranks 1,221st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Garfield 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.
Garfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Garfield County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 83% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 83% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Garfield County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,077 a month, better than only 13% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Garfield County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $63,486; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Garfield County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 Garfield County
Garfield 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 Garfield County.
Who works in Garfield County, and how
Work in Garfield County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Garfield County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Garfield County.
Is Garfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Garfield County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Tyler, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Garfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Garfield County, month by month
Garfield County sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 95° | 78° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Garfield County
The nearest airport, Lewiston/Nez Perce County, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 212 miles away.
Garfield 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 Garfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Garfield County
Is Garfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garfield County ranks 1,221st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and walkability, and lowest on state infrastructure and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,550. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,486 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Garfield County safe?
Garfield County is safer than 49% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $443 per resident a year.
Compare Garfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garfield 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.
Garfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garfield 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.