Best PlacesSalmon Creek, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Salmon Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Salmon Creek ranks 3,574th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Salmon Creek
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.
Salmon Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Salmon Creek ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$120,657 median, better than 93% of towns
Where Salmon Creek ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 13% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Salmon Creek
A household needs to earn about $142,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salmon Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $120,657, 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 Salmon Creek's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Salmon Creek
Salmon Creek runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Salmon Creek.
Who works in Salmon Creek, and how
Work in Salmon Creek centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Salmon Creek
Salmon Creek has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Salmon Creek and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Salmon Creek, month by month
Salmon Creek sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Salmon Creek
Portland International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
Salmon Creek 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 Salmon Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Salmon Creek suits
Families
Schools land around the 46th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Salmon Creek
Is Salmon Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salmon Creek ranks 3,574th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, biking, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Salmon Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $542,288. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $120,657 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Salmon Creek safe?
Yes, Salmon Creek is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Salmon Creek?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 34. That works out to about 114 pleasant days a year, more than 77% of towns.
Is Salmon Creek good for families?
Schools beat 46% of towns, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Compare Salmon Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salmon Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salmon Creek 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.
Salmon Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salmon Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salmon Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salmon Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salmon Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salmon Creek 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.