Best PlacesIsland County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Island County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Island County ranks 340th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Island 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.
The best areas in Island County
The parts of Island County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Coupeville
Fewer homes sit empty and commutes are shorter.
Camano Island
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Clinton & Langley
Health care is easier to reach and more adults hold degrees.
Oak Harbor
Fewer residents vote and crime runs higher.
Freeland & Greenbank
Streets are more car-dependent and heat risk is higher.
Scores across Island County run from about the 31st to the 95th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Island County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Island County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of counties
Where Island County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Island County
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Island County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,737, 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 Island County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Island County
Island 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 Island County.
Who works in Island County, and how
Work in Island County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Island County
Island County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. The coast is about 3 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Island County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Island County growing, and who is moving in?
Island County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Island County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Island County, month by month
Island County sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 43° | 36° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Island County
The nearest airport, Seattle Paine Field International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 54 miles away.
Island 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 Island County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Island County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 72% of counties, health care access beats 56%, and it is quieter than 80%.
Common questions about living in Island County
Is Island County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Island County ranks 340th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Island County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $582,317. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $93,737 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Island County safe?
Yes, Island County is safer than 84% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $361 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Island County?
July highs average about 69 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 36. That works out to about 117 pleasant days a year, more than 72% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Island County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Coupeville, Camano Island, and Clinton & Langley. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Island County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Island County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Island 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.
Island County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Island County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Island County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Island County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Island County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Island 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.