Best PlacesMatthews Beach, Seattle, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Matthews Beach, Seattle, 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.
Matthews Beach, Seattle ranks 384th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Matthews Beach, Seattle
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.
Matthews Beach, Seattle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Matthews Beach, Seattle ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of neighborhoods
- Household income$166,137 median, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where Matthews Beach, Seattle ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Matthews Beach, Seattle
A household needs to earn about $308,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Matthews Beach, Seattle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $166,137, 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 Matthews Beach, Seattle's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Matthews Beach, Seattle
Matthews Beach, Seattle runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Matthews Beach, Seattle.
Who works in Matthews Beach, Seattle, and how
Work in Matthews Beach, Seattle centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 42%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Matthews Beach, Seattle
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Matthews Beach, Seattle, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Matthews Beach, Seattle, month by month
Matthews Beach, Seattle 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 Matthews Beach, Seattle
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 18 miles away.
Matthews Beach, Seattle 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 Matthews Beach, Seattle against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Matthews Beach, Seattle
Is Matthews Beach, Seattle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Matthews Beach, Seattle ranks 384th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on an educated workforce, clean air, and tree cover, 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 Matthews Beach, Seattle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,190,899. The overall cost of living runs about 29% above the national average. Set against a $166,137 median income, cost of living beats 91% of neighborhoods.
Is Matthews Beach, Seattle safe?
Matthews Beach, Seattle is safer than 37% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $700 per resident a year.
Compare Matthews Beach, Seattle with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Matthews Beach, Seattle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Matthews Beach, Seattle 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.
Matthews Beach, Seattle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Matthews Beach, Seattle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Matthews Beach, Seattle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Matthews Beach, Seattle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Matthews Beach, Seattle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Matthews Beach, Seattle 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.