Best suburbs of Seattle

We scored all 73 towns and communities of 10,000+ people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area on what most people weigh when they pick a suburb: what homes cost compared with local pay, household income, poverty, commute times, education, homeownership and how many families with kids live there. Snoqualmie, Cottage Lake and Mill Creek East come out on top.

top 10 upper half lower half Seattle. Dot size shows population.

The top 25

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
1	Snoqualmie, WA	85	13,640	$977,200	4.6×	$214,107	29.0 min	0.8%	23
2	Cottage Lake, WA	81	22,518	$1,230,700	5.8×	$213,106	25.9 min	3.2%	16
3	Mill Creek East, WA	76	25,453	$905,400	4.7×	$192,937	33.0 min	4.1%	17
4	Sammamish, WA	75	66,110	$1,407,300	5.9×	$239,690	29.3 min	4.3%	15
5	Artondale, WA	75	14,073	$734,400	4.9×	$149,302	29.4 min	2.0%	26
6	Maltby, WA	73	10,910	$1,002,100	5.4×	$185,457	28.4 min	3.9%	17
7	Bothell West, WA	71	22,029	$824,900	5.4×	$153,449	31.8 min	3.0%	14
8	Bothell East, WA	70	14,578	$1,131,600	5.7×	$198,882	31.1 min	3.6%	15
9	East Renton Highlands, WA	70	12,582	$778,700	5.5×	$142,500	31.9 min	3.1%	16
10	Silver Firs, WA	69	22,306	$859,900	5.3×	$163,418	31.7 min	5.9%	19
11	Maple Valley, WA	68	28,482	$724,700	4.7×	$152,885	37.0 min	4.8%	23
12	Eastmont, WA	67	23,721	$784,000	5.6×	$138,912	28.0 min	6.4%	21
13	Union Hill-Novelty Hill, WA	67	23,047	$1,218,500	6.6×	$185,369	28.4 min	5.7%	16
14	Bonney Lake, WA	67	22,139	$607,900	4.4×	$136,845	32.1 min	4.5%	30
15	Woodinville, WA	66	14,548	$1,100,100	6.7×	$164,398	25.5 min	2.9%	13
16	Lake Forest Park, WA	64	13,191	$953,200	6.0×	$159,904	28.2 min	4.0%	10
17	Lake Tapps, WA	64	12,798	$742,400	5.0×	$148,005	36.5 min	4.6%	28
18	Mercer Island, WA	63	25,422	$2,000,000+	9.1×	$219,069	23.6 min	3.8%	7
19	Covington, WA	63	21,496	$637,300	4.7×	$134,502	33.4 min	5.0%	21
20	Bothell, WA	61	52,199	$925,100	6.6×	$140,427	27.7 min	4.8%	13
21	Lake Stevens, WA	61	42,091	$635,600	5.2×	$122,336	35.2 min	5.2%	29
22	Issaquah, WA	61	39,423	$963,000	6.2×	$154,669	25.3 min	5.2%	15
23	Lake Morton-Berrydale, WA	61	11,183	$714,200	5.5×	$129,833	38.4 min	3.7%	23
24	Prairie Ridge, WA	60	12,074	$462,000	4.0×	$114,356	36.4 min	3.7%	34
25	Redmond, WA	59	82,506	$1,167,800	7.2×	$162,560	22.1 min	5.6%	12

Show all 73 places

#	Place	Score	Population	Median home	Home vs income	Household income	Commute	Poverty	Miles away
26	Edgewood, WA	59	13,548	$712,000	6.1×	$116,132	28.3 min	4.6%	27
27	Graham, WA	56	35,079	$516,700	4.4×	$116,862	43.0 min	5.9%	41
28	Lakeland South, WA	56	13,100	$589,300	5.3×	$110,735	29.6 min	6.2%	24
29	Frederickson, WA	54	25,383	$477,400	4.4×	$109,500	35.7 min	5.7%	36
30	Martha Lake, WA	54	22,634	$785,400	6.3×	$124,494	27.8 min	8.3%	17
31	Mukilteo, WA	54	21,239	$884,900	6.7×	$132,861	25.8 min	5.7%	20
32	Picnic Point, WA	54	10,261	$833,800	6.4×	$129,734	29.6 min	7.2%	18
33	Kirkland, WA	53	97,410	$1,115,400	7.4×	$150,414	23.9 min	6.1%	9
34	South Hill, WA	52	68,025	$543,600	4.8×	$113,130	33.9 min	7.2%	35
35	Kenmore, WA	52	24,249	$920,800	6.6×	$139,764	28.8 min	5.7%	10
36	Edmonds, WA	51	42,748	$890,100	7.3×	$122,449	26.6 min	3.8%	13
37	Newcastle, WA	51	13,128	$1,205,600	7.5×	$160,278	27.9 min	5.9%	11
38	Bellevue, WA	50	154,193	$1,340,300	8.1×	$165,576	23.6 min	7.2%	9
39	Enumclaw, WA	49	13,172	$524,600	4.3×	$121,250	33.0 min	7.5%	33
40	Sumner, WA	49	10,871	$519,900	5.3×	$98,191	29.6 min	4.9%	28
41	Mountlake Terrace, WA	47	25,430	$667,300	6.2×	$107,687	27.9 min	7.0%	12
42	Elk Plain, WA	47	14,276	$473,500	4.4×	$107,313	36.5 min	8.3%	40
43	Monroe, WA	46	20,025	$668,400	6.1×	$110,461	31.3 min	7.3%	24
44	Fairwood, WA	46	17,856	$733,200	6.0×	$122,134	33.6 min	8.4%	15
45	Marysville, WA	45	77,686	$567,900	5.5×	$103,974	31.5 min	8.1%	33
46	Spanaway, WA	44	34,019	$445,700	4.5×	$98,251	37.3 min	8.8%	36
47	Lakeland North, WA	44	15,950	$557,000	5.3×	$105,216	30.6 min	14.4%	20
48	Shoreline, WA	43	66,542	$811,100	7.2×	$112,751	27.2 min	8.8%	10
49	University Place, WA	43	35,479	$624,800	6.3×	$99,031	28.0 min	8.2%	29
50	Gig Harbor, WA	40	12,630	$767,100	6.5×	$118,395	32.3 min	7.0%	23
51	Fife, WA	40	11,061	$543,100	6.0×	$90,532	26.9 min	11.2%	27
52	Mill Creek, WA	39	20,902	$903,800	7.3×	$124,364	33.0 min	6.4%	18
53	Auburn, WA	38	86,301	$547,900	5.6×	$97,884	30.5 min	8.9%	23
54	North Lynnwood, WA	38	23,339	$616,400	6.1×	$101,088	29.9 min	7.2%	17
55	Arlington, WA	38	22,031	$538,800	6.1×	$88,231	29.9 min	12.7%	39
56	Tacoma, WA	37	229,816	$479,600	5.6×	$85,884	28.8 min	12.4%	26
57	Puyallup, WA	36	42,682	$551,800	5.6×	$97,826	31.4 min	7.0%	31
58	SeaTac, WA	36	34,578	$519,700	6.4×	$81,104	25.4 min	9.3%	12
59	Kent, WA	33	134,871	$587,800	6.4×	$92,302	30.4 min	10.8%	17
60	Alderwood Manor, WA	33	10,266	$700,900	6.7×	$105,181	33.7 min	7.9%	14
61	Renton, WA	32	104,975	$672,600	6.7×	$100,432	29.7 min	8.1%	12
62	Snohomish, WA	31	10,719	$683,900	7.8×	$87,250	29.1 min	6.7%	25
63	Burien, WA	30	51,859	$638,800	7.0×	$91,318	26.7 min	12.9%	10
64	Des Moines, WA	30	33,032	$597,000	6.5×	$92,483	30.8 min	12.1%	16
65	Tukwila, WA	29	22,003	$489,000	6.2×	$78,381	24.6 min	13.0%	10
66	Parkland, WA	28	38,742	$423,000	5.9×	$72,239	30.5 min	13.0%	33
67	Lake Stickney, WA	28	15,890	$620,300	6.6×	$94,020	33.4 min	10.9%	18
68	Bryn Mawr-Skyway, WA	26	17,638	$655,200	7.2×	$90,969	32.6 min	13.3%	10
69	Everett, WA	25	113,567	$565,300	6.8×	$83,512	26.9 min	12.9%	25
70	White Center, WA	25	14,886	$645,200	7.4×	$87,189	29.6 min	14.5%	8
71	Federal Way, WA	23	99,729	$552,800	6.4×	$86,909	32.1 min	13.0%	21
72	Lakewood, WA	21	62,755	$461,200	6.2×	$74,720	29.3 min	13.2%	33
73	Lynnwood, WA	19	42,132	$686,900	8.8×	$77,704	29.9 min	14.2%	15

Most affordable homes

Prairie Ridge 4 years of income, $462,000
Enumclaw 4.3 years of income, $524,600
Bonney Lake 4.4 years of income, $607,900
Graham 4.4 years of income, $516,700
Frederickson 4.4 years of income, $477,400

Most families with kids

Mill Creek East 58.0% of households
Snoqualmie 54.7% of households
Bothell East 53.4% of households
Maple Valley 51.3% of households
Sammamish 51.1% of households

How the score works

For each measure we rank the 73 places from worst to best within this metro area, then combine the ranks with these weights: home value compared with household income (20%), household income (15%), poverty rate (15%), average commute (15%), share of adults with a bachelor's degree (10%), homeownership (10%), households with children (10%) and population growth since 2020 (5%). Unincorporated communities have no official growth estimate, so they get the middle value for that part. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure.

Everything comes from the Census Bureau: the American Community Survey 2020-2024 and the 2025 population estimates. We leave out crime and school ratings because comparable official data for every town does not exist; check local school district and police data for the places on your shortlist.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best suburbs of Seattle?

On our data-only score, Snoqualmie, Cottage Lake and Mill Creek East rank highest among 73 places of 10,000+ people in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area.

What is the most affordable suburb of Seattle?

Prairie Ridge has the lowest ratio of median home value to household income (4 years), with a median home of $462,000.

Which Seattle suburb has the shortest commute?

Redmond, where the average commute is 22.1 minutes each way.

Back to the Seattle city profile, or see the best suburbs of other big cities.

Places are incorporated cities, towns and villages plus census-designated places with 10,000 or more residents, assigned to the metro area by county (OMB 2023 delineations). Distances are straight lines from the center of Seattle. The Census Bureau caps published medians at $250,000 for income and $2,000,000 for home values, shown with a plus sign.