Best PlacesMill Creek East, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mill Creek East, 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.
Mill Creek East ranks 20th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mill Creek East
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.
Mill Creek East's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mill Creek East ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$192,392 median, better than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of cities
Where Mill Creek East ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute33.4 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Mill Creek East
A household needs to earn about $243,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mill Creek East home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $192,392, 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 Mill Creek East's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Mill Creek East
Mill Creek East runs younger 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 Mill Creek East.
Who works in Mill Creek East, and how
Work in Mill Creek East centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mill Creek East
Mill Creek East has more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. The coast is about 14 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Mill Creek East and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mill Creek East, month by month
Mill Creek East sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 59° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 76° | 64° | 55° |
| October | 60° | 52° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Mill Creek East
The nearest airport, Seattle Paine Field International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 27 miles away.
Mill Creek East 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 Mill Creek East against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Mill Creek East suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Mill Creek East
Is Mill Creek East a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mill Creek East ranks 20th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on state infrastructure and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mill Creek East expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $929,728. The overall cost of living runs about 23% above the national average. Set against a $192,392 median income, cost of living beats 95% of cities.
Is Mill Creek East safe?
Yes, Mill Creek East is safer than 93% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $257 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mill Creek East?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of cities.
Is Mill Creek East good for families?
Schools beat 80% of cities, crime safety beats 93%, and childcare runs $1,516 a month.
Compare Mill Creek East with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mill Creek East. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mill Creek East 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.
Mill Creek East detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mill Creek East: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mill Creek East: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mill Creek East: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mill Creek East: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mill Creek East 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.