Best PlacesSunnyside, ID Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sunnyside, 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.
Sunnyside ranks 19,248th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sunnyside
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.
Sunnyside's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sunnyside ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
Where Sunnyside ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute45.5 minutes each way, better than only 2% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sunnyside
A household needs to earn about $238,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sunnyside home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,955, 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 Sunnyside's effective rate of 0.42%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Sunnyside
Sunnyside 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 Sunnyside.
Who works in Sunnyside, and how
Work in Sunnyside centers on health care & social and wholesale trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Sunnyside
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sunnyside.
What the weather is like in Sunnyside, month by month
Sunnyside sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 29° | 26° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 52° |
| October | 56° | 44° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Sunnyside
The nearest airport, Spokane International, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 279 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sunnyside
Schools across Sunnyside average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Kootenai Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Hope Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sandpoint Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Sandpoint High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sunnyside school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sunnyside 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 Sunnyside against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sunnyside
Is Sunnyside a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sunnyside ranks 19,248th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, civic engagement, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sunnyside expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $961,206. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $72,955 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Sunnyside safe?
Yes, Sunnyside is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
Compare Sunnyside with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sunnyside. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sunnyside 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.
Sunnyside detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sunnyside: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sunnyside: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sunnyside: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sunnyside: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sunnyside 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.