Best PlacesHappy Valley, Bellingham, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Happy Valley, 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.
Happy Valley, Bellingham ranks 3,214th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Happy Valley, 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.
Happy Valley, Bellingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Happy Valley, Bellingham ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Short commute18.7 minutes each way, better than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Happy Valley, Bellingham ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Happy Valley, Bellingham
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Happy Valley, Bellingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,481, 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 Happy Valley, Bellingham's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Happy Valley, Bellingham
Happy Valley, Bellingham runs younger 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 Happy Valley, Bellingham.
Who works in Happy Valley, Bellingham, and how
Work in Happy Valley, Bellingham centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Happy Valley, Bellingham
The coast is about 2 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Happy Valley, Bellingham, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Happy Valley, Bellingham, month by month
Happy Valley, 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 Happy Valley, Bellingham
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 88 miles away.
Happy Valley, 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 Happy Valley, Bellingham against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Happy Valley, Bellingham
Is Happy Valley, Bellingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Happy Valley, Bellingham ranks 3,214th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and cell coverage, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Happy Valley, Bellingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $542,992. The overall cost of living runs about 18% above the national average. Set against a $56,481 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Happy Valley, Bellingham safe?
Yes, Happy Valley, Bellingham is safer than 59% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $552 per resident a year.
Compare Happy Valley, Bellingham with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Happy Valley, Bellingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Happy Valley, 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.
Happy Valley, Bellingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Happy Valley, Bellingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Happy Valley, Bellingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Happy Valley, Bellingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Happy Valley, Bellingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Happy Valley, 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.