Best PlacesWalla Walla County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Walla Walla County, 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.
Walla Walla County ranks 722nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla County
The parts of Walla Walla 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.
College Place
More residents vote, fewer homes sit empty, and biking is better.
Burbank
More households have young kids, though streets are more car-dependent.
Walla Walla
Local pay stretches less far and crime runs higher.
Scores across Walla Walla County run from about the 9th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Walla Walla County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walla Walla County ranks high
- Short commute15.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of counties
- BikingBetter than 84% of counties
Where Walla Walla County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,102 a month, better than only 11% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 21% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Walla Walla County
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walla Walla County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,596, 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 Walla Walla County's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Walla Walla County
Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla County.
Who works in Walla Walla County, and how
Work in Walla Walla County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Walla Walla County
Walla Walla County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and more parkland per resident than 85% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Walla Walla County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Walla Walla County growing, and who is moving in?
Walla Walla County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Walla Walla County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Walla Walla County, month by month
Walla Walla County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 93° | 78° | 62° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Walla Walla County
The nearest airport, Walla Walla Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 204 miles away.
Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Walla Walla County suits
Families
Schools land around the 46th percentile and crime safety beats 73%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Walla Walla County
Is Walla Walla County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walla Walla County ranks 722nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Walla Walla County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $400,564. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $76,596 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Walla Walla County safe?
Yes, Walla Walla County is safer than 73% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $406 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Walla Walla County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 28. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Walla Walla County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are College Place, Burbank, and Walla Walla. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Walla Walla County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walla Walla County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walla Walla 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.
Walla Walla County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walla Walla County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walla Walla County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walla Walla County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walla Walla County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walla Walla 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.