Best PlacesSammamish, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Sammamish area, 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.
Sammamish ranks 2nd of 2098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on population health and lowest on childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in Sammamish
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.
Sammamish's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sammamish ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 100% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$227,788 median, better than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of cities
Where Sammamish ranks low
- Cheap childcare$2,022 a month, better than only 3% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Sammamish
A household needs to earn about $383,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sammamish home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $227,788, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Sammamish's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Sammamish
Sammamish's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sammamish.
Who works in Sammamish, and how
Work in Sammamish centers on professional & technical and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 55%
- Work from home 40%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Sammamish
Sammamish has more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. The coast is about 22 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Sammamish, month by month
Sammamish sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 36. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 62° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 81° | 69° | 58° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Sammamish
The nearest airport, Boeing Field/King County International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 17 miles away.
Sammamish 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 Sammamish against the other 2097 cities.
Who Sammamish suits
Families
Schools beat 96% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities and 40% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather is mild, health care access is good, and it stays quiet.
Common questions about living in Sammamish
Is Sammamish a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sammamish ranks 2nd of 2098 cities. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and high incomes, 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 Sammamish expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,452,472. The overall cost of living runs about 39% above the national average. Set against a $227,788 median income, cost of living beats 98% of cities.
Is Sammamish safe?
Yes, Sammamish is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sammamish?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 36. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Sammamish good for families?
Schools beat 96% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Compare Sammamish with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sammamish. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sammamish 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.
Sammamish detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sammamish: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sammamish: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sammamish: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sammamish: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sammamish 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.