Best PlacesRichland, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Richland ranks 269th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Richland
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 Richland
The parts of Richland, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Horn Rapids
Queensgate
Meadow Springs, Leslie Canyon & Island View
Keene Valley & Little Badger
Stevens Triangle, Gold Coast & North Richland
Richland Village, Downtown Richland & Uptown
Cottonwood
Scores across Richland run from about the 21st to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Richland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richland ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 162 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of cities
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 85% of cities
- TransitBetter than 83% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of cities
Where Richland ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than only 30% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 34% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Richland
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $109,319; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Richland's effective rate of 0.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Richland
Richland'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 Richland.
Who works in Richland, and how
Work in Richland centers on professional & technical 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 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Richland
Richland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Richland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Richland, month by month
Richland sees roughly 162 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 29° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 97° | 80° | 62° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Richland
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 165 miles away.
Richland 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 Richland against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Richland suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 92%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Richland
Is Richland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richland ranks 269th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, the weather, and short commutes, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,368. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $109,319 median income, cost of living beats 79% of cities.
Is Richland safe?
Yes, Richland is safer than 92% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $274 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Richland?
July highs average about 97 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 29. That works out to about 162 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Richland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Horn Rapids, Queensgate, and Meadow Springs, Leslie Canyon & Island View. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Richland with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richland 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.
Richland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richland 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.