Best PlacesKittitas County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kittitas County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kittitas County ranks 545th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kittitas 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 Kittitas County
The parts of Kittitas 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.
Kittitas
More households have young kids, prices have run up less, and fewer homes sit empty.
Ellensburg
Fewer residents vote and incomes run lower.
Cle Elum
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Kittitas County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kittitas County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kittitas County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 145 pleasant days a year, better than 90% of counties
- TransitBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
Where Kittitas County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,102 a month, better than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kittitas County
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kittitas County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $84,076, 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 Kittitas County's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Kittitas County
Kittitas County'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 Kittitas County.
Who works in Kittitas County, and how
Work in Kittitas County centers on education and hospitality & food. 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 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Kittitas County
Kittitas County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kittitas County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kittitas County growing, and who is moving in?
Kittitas County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kittitas County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kittitas County, month by month
Kittitas County sees roughly 145 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 64° | 49° | 35° |
| July | 91° | 73° | 56° |
| October | 65° | 49° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Kittitas County
The nearest airport, Pangborn Memorial, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 84 miles away.
Kittitas 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 Kittitas County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kittitas County suits
Common questions about living in Kittitas County
Is Kittitas County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kittitas County ranks 545th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, an educated workforce, and the weather, and lowest on disaster risk and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kittitas County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $499,587. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $84,076 median income, cost of living beats 63% of counties.
Is Kittitas County safe?
Yes, Kittitas County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $400 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kittitas County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 23. That works out to about 145 pleasant days a year, more than 90% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kittitas County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Kittitas, Ellensburg, and Cle Elum. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Kittitas County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kittitas County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kittitas 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.
Kittitas County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kittitas County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kittitas County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kittitas County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kittitas County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kittitas 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.