Best PlacesTacoma, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tacoma, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tacoma ranks 25,918th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tacoma
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.
Tacoma's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tacoma ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of towns
Where Tacoma ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tacoma
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tacoma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,609, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Tacoma's effective rate of 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tacoma
Tacoma'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 Tacoma.
Who works in Tacoma, and how
Work in Tacoma centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Tacoma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tacoma.
What the weather is like in Tacoma, month by month
Tacoma sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 34° | 28° |
| April | 64° | 54° | 45° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Tacoma
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 148 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tacoma
Schools across Tacoma average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wise PrimaryA+ · 73% proficient
- Fort Blackmore PrimaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Union MiddleA · 61% proficient
- Dungannon Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Union HighA− · 67% proficient
- Twin Springs HighB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tacoma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tacoma 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 Tacoma against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tacoma
Is Tacoma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tacoma ranks 25,918th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tacoma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $148,431. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $58,609 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Tacoma safe?
Tacoma is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
Compare Tacoma with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tacoma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tacoma 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.
Tacoma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tacoma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tacoma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tacoma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tacoma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tacoma 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.