Best PlacesSan Juan County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in San Juan County, 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.
San Juan County ranks 401st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in San Juan County
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.
San Juan County's strengths and weaknesses
Where San Juan County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of counties
Where San Juan County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in San Juan County
A household needs to earn about $201,000 a year to comfortably buy the median San Juan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,418, 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 San Juan County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 San Juan County
San Juan County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for San Juan County.
Who works in San Juan County, and how
Work in San Juan County centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in San Juan County
San Juan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. The coast is about 8 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of San Juan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is San Juan County growing, and who is moving in?
San Juan County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving San Juan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in San Juan County, month by month
San Juan County sees roughly 157 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 76° | 61° | 50° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of San Juan County
The nearest airport, Friday Harbor, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 84 miles away.
San Juan County 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 San Juan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in San Juan County
Is San Juan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, San Juan County ranks 401st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is San Juan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $797,680. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $86,418 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is San Juan County safe?
San Juan County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $478 per resident a year.
Compare San Juan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to San Juan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in San Juan County 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.
San Juan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for San Juan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in San Juan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of San Juan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in San Juan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
San Juan County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.