Best PlacesPoulsbo, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Poulsbo, 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.
Poulsbo ranks 489th 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 Poulsbo
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.
Poulsbo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Poulsbo ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of cities
- QuietBetter than 88% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of cities
Where Poulsbo ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 23% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Poulsbo
A household needs to earn about $161,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Poulsbo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $120,516, 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 Poulsbo's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Poulsbo
Poulsbo runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Poulsbo.
Who works in Poulsbo, and how
Work in Poulsbo centers on public administration 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 69%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Poulsbo
Poulsbo has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 11 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Poulsbo and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Poulsbo, month by month
Poulsbo sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 81° | 65° | 50° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Poulsbo
The nearest airport, Seattle Paine Field International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 25 miles away.
Poulsbo 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 Poulsbo against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Poulsbo suits
Families
Schools land around the 55th percentile and crime safety beats 82%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of cities and 23% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 67% of cities, health care access beats 64%, and it is quieter than 88%.
Common questions about living in Poulsbo
Is Poulsbo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Poulsbo ranks 489th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and civic engagement, and lowest on cell coverage and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Poulsbo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $620,194. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $120,516 median income, cost of living beats 72% of cities.
Is Poulsbo safe?
Yes, Poulsbo is safer than 82% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $314 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Poulsbo?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 33. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of cities.
Is Poulsbo good for families?
Schools beat 55% of cities, crime safety beats 82%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Compare Poulsbo with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Poulsbo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Poulsbo 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.
Poulsbo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Poulsbo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Poulsbo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Poulsbo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Poulsbo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Poulsbo 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.