Best PlacesMercer Heights, Mercer Island, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mercer Heights, Mercer Island, 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.
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island ranks 44th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
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.
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mercer Heights, Mercer Island ranks high
- Household income$241,989 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
Where Mercer Heights, Mercer Island 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 8% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
A household needs to earn about $495,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mercer Heights, Mercer Island home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $241,989, 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island runs older than the country, 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island.
Who works in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island, and how
Work in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Mercer Heights, Mercer Island, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island, month by month
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island sees roughly 152 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 9 miles away.
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island
Is Mercer Heights, Mercer Island a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mercer Heights, Mercer Island ranks 44th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on high incomes, good schools, and what local pay buys, 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 Mercer Heights, Mercer Island expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,939,886. The overall cost of living runs about 57% above the national average. Set against a $241,989 median income, cost of living beats 97% of neighborhoods.
Is Mercer Heights, Mercer Island safe?
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island is safer than 46% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $617 per resident a year.
Compare Mercer Heights, Mercer Island with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mercer Heights, Mercer Island. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island 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.
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mercer Heights, Mercer Island: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mercer Heights, Mercer Island: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mercer Heights, Mercer Island: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mercer Heights, Mercer Island 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.