Best PlacesKirkland, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kirkland, 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.
Kirkland ranks 74th 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 Kirkland
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 Kirkland
The parts of Kirkland, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
South Rose Hill & Bridle Trails
Houghton, Moss Bay & Lake View
Norkirk
Juanita
Highlands-Kirkland
North Rose Hill & Totem Lake
Scores across Kirkland run from about the 61st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kirkland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kirkland ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- BikingBetter than 96% of cities
- Household income$168,883 median, better than 95% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of cities
Where Kirkland ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 17% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kirkland
A household needs to earn about $338,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kirkland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $168,883, 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 Kirkland's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Kirkland
Kirkland's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Kirkland.
Who works in Kirkland, and how
Work in Kirkland centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Kirkland
Kirkland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kirkland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kirkland, month by month
Kirkland sees roughly 152 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Kirkland
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 17 miles away.
Kirkland 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 Kirkland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kirkland suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kirkland
Is Kirkland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kirkland ranks 74th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, clean air, and biking, 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 Kirkland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,310,190. The overall cost of living runs about 45% above the national average. Set against a $168,883 median income, cost of living beats 80% of cities.
Is Kirkland safe?
Kirkland is safer than 26% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $537 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kirkland?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 152 pleasant days a year, more than 84% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kirkland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are South Rose Hill & Bridle Trails, Houghton, Moss Bay & Lake View, and Norkirk. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Kirkland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kirkland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kirkland 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.
Kirkland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kirkland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kirkland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kirkland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kirkland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kirkland 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.