Best PlacesManchester, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manchester, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Manchester ranks 1,986th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Manchester
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.
Manchester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manchester ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$132,885 median, better than 95% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
Where Manchester ranks low
- Short commute41.9 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,327 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 13% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
Who lives in Manchester
Manchester runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Manchester.
Life in Manchester
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Manchester, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Manchester, month by month
Manchester sees roughly 154 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 Manchester
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 10 miles away.
Manchester 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 Manchester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Manchester
Is Manchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manchester ranks 1,986th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, quiet, and high incomes, and lowest on long commutes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manchester safe?
Yes, Manchester is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Manchester?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 154 pleasant days a year, more than 93% of towns.
Compare Manchester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manchester 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.
Manchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manchester 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.
- 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.