Best PlacesUniversity Place, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around University Place, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
University Place ranks 861st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in University Place
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.
University Place's strengths and weaknesses
Where University Place ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of cities
- BikingBetter than 91% of cities
- QuietBetter than 83% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of cities
- TransitBetter than 80% of cities
Where University Place ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in University Place
A household needs to earn about $167,000 a year to comfortably buy the median University Place home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,870, 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 University Place's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 University Place
University Place'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 University Place.
Who works in University Place, and how
Work in University Place 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 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in University Place
University Place has more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. The coast is about 10 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of University Place and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in University Place, month by month
University Place sees roughly 116 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 79 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 79° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 45° |
Flying in and out of University Place
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
University Place 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 University Place against the other 2,097 cities.
Who University Place suits
Common questions about living in University Place
Is University Place a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, University Place ranks 861st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, biking, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is University Place expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $622,689. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $102,870 median income, cost of living beats 50% of cities.
Is University Place safe?
University Place is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $580 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in University Place?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 116 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of cities.
Is University Place good for families?
Schools beat 40% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Compare University Place with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to University Place. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in University Place 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.
University Place detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for University Place: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in University Place: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of University Place: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in University Place: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
University Place 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.