Best PlacesGuide Meridian, Bellingham, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Guide Meridian, Bellingham, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Guide Meridian, Bellingham ranks 3,276th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Guide Meridian, Bellingham
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.
Guide Meridian, Bellingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Guide Meridian, Bellingham ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.3 minutes each way, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
Where Guide Meridian, Bellingham ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Guide Meridian, Bellingham
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Guide Meridian, Bellingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,364, 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 Guide Meridian, Bellingham's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Guide Meridian, Bellingham
Guide Meridian, Bellingham runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Guide Meridian, Bellingham.
Who works in Guide Meridian, Bellingham, and how
Work in Guide Meridian, Bellingham centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Guide Meridian, Bellingham
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Guide Meridian, Bellingham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Guide Meridian, Bellingham, month by month
Guide Meridian, Bellingham sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 76° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Guide Meridian, Bellingham
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 94 miles away.
Guide Meridian, Bellingham 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 Guide Meridian, Bellingham against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Guide Meridian, Bellingham
Is Guide Meridian, Bellingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Guide Meridian, Bellingham ranks 3,276th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Guide Meridian, Bellingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $483,143. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $64,364 median income, cost of living beats 23% of neighborhoods.
Is Guide Meridian, Bellingham safe?
Yes, Guide Meridian, Bellingham is safer than 58% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $640 per resident a year.
Compare Guide Meridian, Bellingham with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Guide Meridian, Bellingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Guide Meridian, Bellingham 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.
Guide Meridian, Bellingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Guide Meridian, Bellingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Guide Meridian, Bellingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Guide Meridian, Bellingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Guide Meridian, Bellingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Guide Meridian, Bellingham 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.