Best PlacesRedmond, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Redmond, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Redmond ranks 17th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Redmond
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.
The best areas in Redmond
The parts of Redmond, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
North Redmond
Downtown Redmond
Overlake & Interlake
Education Hill & English Hill
Southeast Redmond & Idylwood
Grass Lawn & Willow-Rose Hill
Scores across Redmond run from about the 67th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Redmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Redmond ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of cities
- Household income$178,479 median, better than 97% of cities
- TransitBetter than 94% of cities
Where Redmond ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Redmond
A household needs to earn about $314,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Redmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $178,479, 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 Redmond'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 Redmond
Redmond runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Redmond.
Who works in Redmond, and how
Work in Redmond 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 52%
- Work from home 38%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Redmond
Redmond has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Redmond and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Redmond, month by month
Redmond sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 43° |
| July | 81° | 68° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Redmond
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 18 miles away.
Redmond 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 Redmond against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Redmond suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 38% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Redmond
Is Redmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Redmond ranks 17th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and clean air, 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 Redmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,212,668. The overall cost of living runs about 36% above the national average. Set against a $178,479 median income, cost of living beats 89% of cities.
Is Redmond safe?
Yes, Redmond is safer than 66% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Redmond?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 151 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Redmond?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are North Redmond, Downtown Redmond, and Overlake & Interlake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Redmond with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Redmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Redmond 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.
Redmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Redmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Redmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Redmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Redmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Redmond 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.