Best PlacesWhatcom County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Whatcom County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Whatcom County ranks 391st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Its strengths are transit and biking. The cost shows up in childcare costs, an overheated housing market, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Whatcom 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 Whatcom County
The parts of Whatcom 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.
Lynden
More households have young kids, prices have run up less, and more residents vote.
Sudden Valley
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Birch Bay, Blaine & Custer
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Bellingham
More adults hold degrees and streets are more walkable.
Ferndale
Crime runs lower, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Everson, Maple Falls & Sumas
Commutes are longer and health care is harder to reach.
Whatcom County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 10% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Whatcom County's strengths and weaknesses
Whatcom 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 3% of counties. Biking and clean air follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. An overheated housing market and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Whatcom County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of counties
Where Whatcom County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 29% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Whatcom County
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whatcom County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,741, 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 Whatcom County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Whatcom County
Whatcom 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 Whatcom County.
Who works in Whatcom County, and how
Work in Whatcom 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 75%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Whatcom County
Whatcom County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of counties and more parkland per resident than 93% of counties. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Whatcom County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Whatcom County growing, and who is moving in?
Whatcom County has grown about 13% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Seattle, WA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Whatcom County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Whatcom County, month by month
Whatcom County sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 76° | 65° | 54° |
| October | 61° | 51° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Whatcom County
The nearest airport, Bellingham International, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 95 miles away.
Whatcom 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 Whatcom County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Whatcom County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Whatcom County
Is Whatcom County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whatcom County ranks 391st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whatcom County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $584,045. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $87,741 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Whatcom County safe?
Yes, Whatcom County is safer than 67% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Whatcom County?
July highs average about 76 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 33. That works out to about 122 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Whatcom County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lynden, Sudden Valley, and Birch Bay, Blaine & Custer. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Whatcom County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $1,516 a month.
Is Whatcom County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 45% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Whatcom County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whatcom County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whatcom 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.
Whatcom County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whatcom County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whatcom County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whatcom County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whatcom County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whatcom 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.