Best PlacesLake Marcel-Stillwater, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Marcel-Stillwater, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Marcel-Stillwater ranks 389th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Marcel-Stillwater
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.
Lake Marcel-Stillwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Marcel-Stillwater ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$201,845 median, better than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
Where Lake Marcel-Stillwater ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute35.2 minutes each way, better than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Marcel-Stillwater
A household needs to earn about $222,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Marcel-Stillwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $201,845; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Lake Marcel-Stillwater's effective rate of 0.82%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lake Marcel-Stillwater
Lake Marcel-Stillwater's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lake Marcel-Stillwater.
Who works in Lake Marcel-Stillwater, and how
Work in Lake Marcel-Stillwater centers on professional & technical and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 53%
- Work from home 42%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake Marcel-Stillwater
The coast is about 37 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Lake Marcel-Stillwater, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Marcel-Stillwater, month by month
Lake Marcel-Stillwater sees roughly 147 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 Lake Marcel-Stillwater
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 25 miles away.
Lake Marcel-Stillwater 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 Lake Marcel-Stillwater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Marcel-Stillwater
Is Lake Marcel-Stillwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Marcel-Stillwater ranks 389th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, high incomes, and population health, 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 Lake Marcel-Stillwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $847,500. The overall cost of living runs about 27% above the national average. Set against a $201,845 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Lake Marcel-Stillwater safe?
Yes, Lake Marcel-Stillwater is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Marcel-Stillwater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Marcel-Stillwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Marcel-Stillwater 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.
Lake Marcel-Stillwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Marcel-Stillwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Marcel-Stillwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Marcel-Stillwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Marcel-Stillwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Marcel-Stillwater 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.