Best PlacesSeattle, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Seattle metro, 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.
Photo by zacgudakov, Unsplash License, via unsplash
Seattle ranks 35th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $128,699, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, long commutes, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in the Seattle metro
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 Seattle
The towns and districts of the Seattle metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Bellevue, Renton & Sammamish
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and schools score higher.
Edmonds & Shoreline
Streets are more walkable and more adults hold degrees.
Marysville, Redmond & Snohomish
Crime runs lower and more households have young kids.
Burien, White Center & Vashon
Transit reaches more jobs and biking is better.
Everett, Lynnwood & Bothell
Scores close to Burien, White Center & Vashon, except that prices have run up more here.
Bonney Lake, Enumclaw & Buckley
It is quieter and more residents vote.
Downtown Seattle
Tree cover is thinner.
South Hill, Auburn & Puyallup
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Tacoma & Lakewood
Seattle shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Seattle's strengths and weaknesses
Seattle ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. High incomes is the standout, in the top 2% of metro areas. Transit and population health follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Long commutes and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Seattle ranks high
- Household income$128,699 median, better than 98% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 98% of metro areas
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of metro areas
Where Seattle ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,759 a month, better than only 1% of metro areas
- Short commute29.2 minutes each way, better than only 7% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 10% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Seattle
A household needs to earn about $205,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Seattle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $128,699, 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 Seattle's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Seattle
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 Seattle.
Who works in Seattle, and how
Work in Seattle 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 66%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Seattle
Seattle has more late-night spots per resident than 87% of metro areas. The coast is about 11 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Seattle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Seattle growing, and who is moving in?
Seattle has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Los Angeles, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Seattle go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Seattle, month by month
Seattle sees roughly 131 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 Seattle
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 12 miles away.
The best schools in and around Seattle
Schools across Seattle average a B, better than 71% of metro areas.
Top middle schools
- Lakeridge Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Seattle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
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 Seattle against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Seattle suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of metro areas and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Seattle
Is Seattle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Seattle ranks 35th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on high incomes, transit, and population health, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Seattle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $786,631. The overall cost of living runs about 21% above the national average. Set against a $128,699 median income, cost of living beats 91% of metro areas.
Is Seattle safe?
Seattle is safer than 16% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $614 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Seattle?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 35. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 79% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Seattle?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bellevue, Renton & Sammamish, Edmonds & Shoreline, and Marysville, Redmond & Snohomish. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Seattle good for families?
Schools beat 71% of metro areas, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $1,759 a month.
Is Seattle good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 56% of metro areas. About 23% of workers already work from home.
Compare Seattle with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Seattle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 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.
Seattle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Seattle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Seattle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Seattle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Seattle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
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.
- 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.