Best PlacesThurston County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Thurston 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.
Thurston County ranks 455th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $101,223, wages outrun the cost of living, 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 Thurston 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 Thurston County
The parts of Thurston 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.
Olympia
More adults hold degrees, tree cover is thicker, and streets are more walkable.
Lacey
Scores close to Olympia, except that more households have young kids here.
Tumwater
Commutes are shorter, though it is noisier.
Tenino
Biking is worse and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Yelm
Crime runs lower, though prices have run up more.
Rochester
Health outcomes score lower.
Thurston County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 13% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Thurston County's strengths and weaknesses
Thurston County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Few empty homes and clean air follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Thurston County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of counties
- Household income$101,223 median, better than 93% of counties
- BikingBetter than 93% of counties
Where Thurston County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Thurston County
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thurston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,223, 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 Thurston County's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thurston County
Thurston 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 Thurston County.
Who works in Thurston County, and how
Work in Thurston County centers on public administration 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 74%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Thurston County
Thurston County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 66% of counties. The coast is about 34 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Thurston County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Thurston County growing, and who is moving in?
Thurston County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Thurston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Thurston County, month by month
Thurston County sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 82° | 65° | 50° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Thurston County
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 40 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Thurston County
Schools across Thurston County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wa He Lut Indian SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thurston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thurston 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 Thurston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Thurston County suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 66%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Thurston County
Is Thurston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thurston County ranks 455th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, few empty homes, and clean air, 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 Thurston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $484,835. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $101,223 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is Thurston County safe?
Yes, Thurston County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $413 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Thurston County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 33. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 56% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Thurston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Thurston County good for families?
Schools beat 52% of counties, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Is Thurston County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 58% of counties. About 20% of workers already work from home.
Compare Thurston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thurston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thurston 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.
Thurston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thurston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thurston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thurston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thurston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thurston 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.