Best PlacesMount Baker, Bellingham, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Baker, Bellingham, 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.
Mount Baker, Bellingham ranks 2,176th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Baker, Bellingham
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.
Mount Baker, Bellingham's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Baker, Bellingham ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Short commute17.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Mount Baker, Bellingham ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Baker, Bellingham
A household needs to earn about $146,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Baker, Bellingham home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,702, 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 Mount Baker, Bellingham's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Mount Baker, Bellingham
Mount Baker, Bellingham runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mount Baker, Bellingham.
Who works in Mount Baker, Bellingham, and how
Work in Mount Baker, Bellingham centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Mount Baker, Bellingham
Mount Baker, Bellingham has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mount Baker, Bellingham and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mount Baker, Bellingham, month by month
Mount Baker, Bellingham sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 76° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Mount Baker, Bellingham
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 92 miles away.
Mount Baker, Bellingham 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 Mount Baker, Bellingham against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Mount Baker, Bellingham
Is Mount Baker, Bellingham a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Baker, Bellingham ranks 2,176th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and short commutes, and lowest on internet speeds and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Baker, Bellingham expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $566,372. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $75,702 median income, cost of living beats 38% of neighborhoods.
Is Mount Baker, Bellingham safe?
Yes, Mount Baker, Bellingham is safer than 60% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $616 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Baker, Bellingham with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Baker, Bellingham. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Baker, Bellingham 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.
Mount Baker, Bellingham detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Baker, Bellingham: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Baker, Bellingham: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Baker, Bellingham: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Baker, Bellingham: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Baker, Bellingham 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.