Best PlacesSpokane County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Spokane County, 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.
Spokane County ranks 315th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $86,961, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state infrastructure, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Spokane 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.
The best areas in Spokane County
The parts of Spokane County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Deer Park & Nine Mile Falls
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and crime runs lower.
Veradale
More households have young kids and it is quieter.
Mead, Otis Orchards & Newman Lake
Biking is worse and streets are more car-dependent.
Spokane
Fewer adults hold degrees and fewer residents vote.
Spokane Valley & Liberty Lake
Tree cover is thinner.
Cheney, Medical Lake & Airway Heights
Health care is harder to reach and disaster risk is higher.
Spokane County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Spokane County's strengths and weaknesses
Spokane County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit, low disaster risk, and biking carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, state infrastructure, and an overheated housing market hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Spokane County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties
Where Spokane County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,197 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Spokane County
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spokane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,961, 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 Spokane County'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 Spokane County
Spokane County'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 Spokane County.
Who works in Spokane County, and how
Work in Spokane County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Spokane County
Spokane County has more late-night spots per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Spokane County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Spokane County growing, and who is moving in?
Spokane County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Spokane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Spokane County, month by month
Spokane County sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 91° | 74° | 56° |
| October | 63° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Spokane County
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 231 miles away.
Spokane 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 Spokane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Spokane County suits
Families
Schools land around the 51st percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Spokane County
Is Spokane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spokane County ranks 315th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, low disaster risk, and biking, 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 Spokane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $430,191. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $86,961 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Spokane County safe?
Yes, Spokane County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $405 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Spokane County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 26. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Spokane County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Deer Park & Nine Mile Falls, Veradale, and Mead, Otis Orchards & Newman Lake. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Spokane County good for families?
Schools beat 51% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,197 a month.
Is Spokane County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Spokane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spokane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spokane 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.
Spokane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spokane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spokane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spokane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spokane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spokane 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.