Best PlacesRainier Beach, Seattle, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rainier Beach, Seattle, 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.
Rainier Beach, Seattle ranks 2,301st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rainier Beach, Seattle
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.
Rainier Beach, Seattle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rainier Beach, Seattle ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 77% of neighborhoods
Where Rainier Beach, Seattle ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Short commute30.1 minutes each way, better than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Rainier Beach, Seattle
A household needs to earn about $177,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rainier Beach, Seattle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,209, 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 Rainier Beach, Seattle's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Rainier Beach, Seattle
Rainier Beach, Seattle's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rainier Beach, Seattle.
Who works in Rainier Beach, Seattle, and how
Work in Rainier Beach, Seattle 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 66%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Rainier Beach, Seattle
Rainier Beach, Seattle has more parkland per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 10 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Rainier Beach, Seattle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rainier Beach, Seattle, month by month
Rainier Beach, Seattle sees roughly 150 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Rainier Beach, Seattle
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 5 miles away.
Rainier Beach, Seattle 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 Rainier Beach, Seattle against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Rainier Beach, Seattle
Is Rainier Beach, Seattle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rainier Beach, Seattle ranks 2,301st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, transit, and tree cover, 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 Rainier Beach, Seattle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $677,622. The overall cost of living runs about 22% above the national average. Set against a $105,209 median income, cost of living beats 58% of neighborhoods.
Is Rainier Beach, Seattle safe?
Rainier Beach, Seattle is safer than 17% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $985 per resident a year.
Compare Rainier Beach, Seattle with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rainier Beach, Seattle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rainier Beach, Seattle 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.
Rainier Beach, Seattle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rainier Beach, Seattle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rainier Beach, Seattle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rainier Beach, Seattle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rainier Beach, Seattle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rainier Beach, Seattle 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.