Best PlacesPort Angeles, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Angeles, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Port Angeles ranks 1,145th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Port Angeles
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.
Port Angeles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Angeles ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of cities
- QuietBetter than 96% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of cities
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 84% of cities
Where Port Angeles ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Port Angeles
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Angeles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,415, 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 Port Angeles' 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 Port Angeles
Port Angeles 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 Port Angeles.
Who works in Port Angeles, and how
Work in Port Angeles centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Port Angeles
Port Angeles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of cities. The coast is about 4 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Port Angeles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Port Angeles, month by month
Port Angeles sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 65 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 42° | 38° |
| April | 54° | 48° | 42° |
| July | 65° | 57° | 52° |
| October | 56° | 50° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Port Angeles
The nearest airport, Friday Harbor, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 69 miles away.
Port Angeles 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 Port Angeles against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Port Angeles suits
Families
Schools land around the 49th percentile and crime safety beats 75%.
Common questions about living in Port Angeles
Is Port Angeles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Angeles ranks 1,145th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on cell coverage and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Angeles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $400,317. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $69,415 median income, cost of living beats 11% of cities.
Is Port Angeles safe?
Yes, Port Angeles is safer than 75% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Port Angeles?
July highs average about 65 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 38. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is Port Angeles good for families?
Schools beat 49% of cities, crime safety beats 75%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Compare Port Angeles with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Angeles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Angeles 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.
Port Angeles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Angeles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Angeles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Angeles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Angeles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Angeles 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.