Best PlacesSpokane Valley, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spokane Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Spokane Valley ranks 1,106th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spokane Valley
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.
Spokane Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spokane Valley ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 84% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 80% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of cities
Where Spokane Valley ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 27% of cities
- Household income$77,148 median, better than only 32% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Spokane Valley
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spokane Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,148, 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 Valley's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Valley
Spokane Valley'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 Valley.
Who works in Spokane Valley, and how
Work in Spokane Valley 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 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Spokane Valley
Spokane Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Spokane Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Spokane Valley, month by month
Spokane Valley sees roughly 105 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 Valley
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 236 miles away.
Spokane Valley 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 Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Spokane Valley suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Common questions about living in Spokane Valley
Is Spokane Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spokane Valley ranks 1,106th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and low taxes, 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 Spokane Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,961. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,148 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Spokane Valley safe?
Yes, Spokane Valley is safer than 70% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Spokane Valley?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 26. That works out to about 105 pleasant days a year, more than 63% of cities.
Is Spokane Valley good for families?
Schools beat 35% of cities, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,197 a month.
Compare Spokane Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spokane Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spokane Valley 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 Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spokane Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spokane Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spokane Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spokane Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spokane Valley 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.