Best PlacesKitsap County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kitsap County, 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.
Kitsap County ranks 192nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $111,494, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state infrastructure, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Kitsap 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 Kitsap County
The parts of Kitsap 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.
Bainbridge Island
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Poulsbo
More residents vote, though fewer households have young kids.
Kingston, Suquamish & Indianola
Tree cover is thicker and it is quieter.
Silverdale & Bangor Base
Commutes are shorter, though biking is worse.
Seabeck
Prices have run up less.
Port Orchard
Crime runs lower and fewer homes sit empty.
Bremerton
Transit reaches more jobs and streets are more walkable.
Scores across Kitsap County run from about the 22nd to the 99th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Kitsap County's strengths and weaknesses
Kitsap County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes, transit, and clean air carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, state infrastructure, and disaster risk hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kitsap County ranks high
- Household income$111,494 median, better than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
Where Kitsap County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 5% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Short commute28.4 minutes each way, better than only 23% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kitsap County
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kitsap County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,494, 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 Kitsap County'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 Kitsap County
Kitsap County'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 Kitsap County.
Who works in Kitsap County, and how
Work in Kitsap 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 72%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Kitsap County
Kitsap County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Kitsap County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kitsap County growing, and who is moving in?
Kitsap County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kitsap County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kitsap County, month by month
Kitsap County sees roughly 111 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 65° | 50° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Kitsap County
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 19 miles away.
Kitsap 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 Kitsap County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kitsap County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kitsap County
Is Kitsap County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kitsap County ranks 192nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on high incomes, transit, and clean air, 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 Kitsap County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $587,781. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $111,494 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Kitsap County safe?
Yes, Kitsap County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $416 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kitsap County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 33. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kitsap County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, and Kingston, Suquamish & Indianola. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kitsap County good for families?
Schools beat 61% of counties, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Is Kitsap County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kitsap County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kitsap County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kitsap 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.
Kitsap County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kitsap County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kitsap County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kitsap County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kitsap County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kitsap 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.