Best PlacesWest End, Tacoma, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West End, Tacoma, 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.
West End, Tacoma ranks 2,083rd of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West End, 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.
West End, Tacoma's strengths and weaknesses
Where West End, Tacoma ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 75% of neighborhoods
Where West End, Tacoma ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
- Short commute28.6 minutes each way, better than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in West End, Tacoma
A household needs to earn about $163,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West End, Tacoma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,815, 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 West End, Tacoma's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 West End, Tacoma
West End, Tacoma 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 West End, Tacoma.
Who works in West End, Tacoma, and how
Work in West End, Tacoma centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in West End, Tacoma
West End, Tacoma has more parkland per resident than 67% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 5 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of West End, Tacoma and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in West End, Tacoma, month by month
West End, Tacoma sees roughly 130 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 West End, Tacoma
Seattle-Tacoma International sits about 16 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 25.4 million passengers in 2025, with 172 nonstop destinations.
West End, 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 West End, Tacoma against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who West End, Tacoma suits
Retirees
The weather beats 67% of neighborhoods and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in West End, Tacoma
Is West End, Tacoma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West End, Tacoma ranks 2,083rd of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and low taxes, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West End, Tacoma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $616,248. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $98,815 median income, cost of living beats 60% of neighborhoods.
Is West End, Tacoma safe?
Yes, West End, Tacoma is safer than 74% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $455 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in West End, Tacoma?
July highs average about 79 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 36. That works out to about 130 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of neighborhoods.
Is West End, Tacoma good for families?
Schools beat 63% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,327 a month.
Compare West End, Tacoma with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West End, Tacoma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West End, 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.
West End, Tacoma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West End, Tacoma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West End, Tacoma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West End, Tacoma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West End, Tacoma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West End, 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.