Best PlacesIssaquah, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Issaquah, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Issaquah ranks 42nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Issaquah
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 Issaquah
The parts of Issaquah, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Issaquah Highlands
Newport
Squak Mountain & Talus
North Issaquah & Providence Point
Olde Town
Montreux
Scores across Issaquah run from about the 73rd to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Issaquah's strengths and weaknesses
Where Issaquah ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$174,341 median, better than 96% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
Where Issaquah ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Issaquah
A household needs to earn about $284,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Issaquah home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $174,341, 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 Issaquah's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 Issaquah
Issaquah's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Issaquah.
Who works in Issaquah, and how
Work in Issaquah centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 38%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Issaquah
Issaquah has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 18 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Issaquah and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Issaquah, month by month
Issaquah sees roughly 148 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Issaquah
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 14 miles away.
Issaquah 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 Issaquah against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Issaquah suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of cities and 38% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Issaquah
Is Issaquah a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Issaquah ranks 42nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Issaquah expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,097,460. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $174,341 median income, cost of living beats 92% of cities.
Is Issaquah safe?
Yes, Issaquah is safer than 60% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Issaquah?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 36. That works out to about 148 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Issaquah?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Issaquah Highlands, Newport, and Squak Mountain & Talus. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Issaquah with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Issaquah. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Issaquah 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.
Issaquah detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Issaquah: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Issaquah: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Issaquah: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Issaquah: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Issaquah 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.