Are you sick of being a city slicker?
Do you long for life in suburban Washington? Where you can drive an overly-large vehicle to the store for groceries and schlep the kids around to practices and appointments without worrying about a parking space.
We do, too.
If you wanted to move out to the suburbs in Washington, where would you go? And how would you decide on the ranking factors to help you pick which Washington suburb was best?
No worries. We got it all figured out here using Saturday Night Science.
$219,069 median income · $2,326,984 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle Metropolitan Area, with Seattle located to its west and Bellevue located to its east.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$239,690 median income · $1,627,993 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Sammamish is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,773 in a 2016 census estimate. Located on a plateau, the city is bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west and the Snoqualmie Valley to the east.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$214,107 median income · $1,122,657 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Snoqualmie is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington. It is twenty-five miles east of Seattle. This city is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was 13,190 in a 2016 census estimate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$162,476 median income · $1,050,869 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Normandy Park is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,335 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$150,414 median income · $1,265,788 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 87,281 at the 2015 census estimate, which made it the sixth largest city in the county and the twelfth largest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$172,188 median income · $1,173,703 median home price
Located in
Kitsap County, Washington
Bainbridge Island is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States, and is coextensive with the eponymous island in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$164,398 median income · $1,390,134 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,938 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King and Snohomish counties. Woodinville has waterfront parks on the Sammamish River, sweeping winery and brewery grounds, and densely wooded residential areas.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$162,560 median income · $1,402,276 median home price
Located in
King County, Washington
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located 16 miles east of Seattle, within the high-tech enclave of Seattle metropolitan area. The population is 62,458 in 2016, an increase from the 2010 census, up from 45,256 in the 2000 census. Redmond is commonly recognized as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an annual bike race on city streets and the state’s only velodrome, Redmond is also known as the “Bicycle Capital of the Northwest”.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$141,126 median income · $751,543 median home price
Located in
Clark County, Washington
Camas is a city in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 19,355 at the 2010 census. The east side of town borders the city of Washougal, Washington, and the west side of town borders Vancouver, Washington. Camas lies along the Washington side of the Columbia River, across from Troutdale, Oregon, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$141,383 median income · $776,133 median home price
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Washington’s statewide median.
Washington statewide median: $98,141
Washington statewide median: $601,016
On the map
Where Washington’s best suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we crunched the suburb numbers for the Evergreen State
We have to use Saturday Night Science and look at several metrics to give you the best suburbs in Washington. We want to measure the type of place around major cities that people arguing at a bar would say makes it the “best suburb.”
First, we had to define a suburb. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Washington, we looked at every town with at least 5,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people.
In other words, suburbs.
We paid particular attention to the following criteria:
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Population Density (Higher is Better)
- Unemployment Rates
- Commute Time
- Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We ranked each suburb in Washington across these criteria from one to 73, with one being the best.
We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the town posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Suburb To Live In Washington.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and ideal places to live in Washington.
Read on to see why Mercer Island is the ‘burb with the most, while Tukwila is probably not the best place to live in Washington.
The full plate
The Best Suburbs In Washington
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercer Island | 25,307 | $219,069 | $2,326,984 |
| 2 | Sammamish | 66,463 | $239,690 | $1,627,993 |
| 3 | Snoqualmie | 13,798 | $214,107 | $1,122,657 |
| 4 | Normandy Park | 6,659 | $162,476 | $1,050,869 |
| 5 | Kirkland | 92,621 | $150,414 | $1,265,788 |
| 6 | Bainbridge Island | 24,631 | $172,188 | $1,173,703 |
| 7 | Woodinville | 13,438 | $164,398 | $1,390,134 |
| 8 | Redmond | 77,353 | $162,560 | $1,402,276 |
| 9 | Camas | 27,007 | $141,126 | $751,543 |
| 10 | Black Diamond | 5,961 | $141,383 | $776,133 |
| 11 | Brier | 6,545 | $132,045 | $1,012,104 |
| 12 | Lake Forest Park | 13,335 | $159,904 | $1,054,029 |
| 13 | Kenmore | 23,741 | $139,764 | $1,046,652 |
| 14 | Mukilteo | 21,323 | $132,861 | $933,199 |
| 15 | Maple Valley | 28,287 | $152,885 | $799,653 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 12,989 | $160,278 | $1,424,187 |
| 17 | Bellevue | 151,847 | $165,576 | $1,516,154 |
| 18 | Bothell | 49,610 | $140,427 | $1,061,138 |
| 19 | Edmonds | 42,735 | $122,449 | $942,131 |
| 20 | Issaquah | 39,591 | $154,669 | $1,158,594 |
| 21 | North Bend | 7,953 | $175,109 | $1,008,581 |
| 22 | Mill Creek | 20,956 | $124,364 | $981,773 |
| 23 | Liberty Lake | 12,737 | $118,723 | $558,764 |
| 24 | Lake Stevens | 40,253 | $122,336 | $705,682 |
| 25 | Bonney Lake | 22,090 | $136,845 | $676,348 |
| 26 | Battle Ground | 21,886 | $104,977 | $606,387 |
| 27 | Fircrest | 7,069 | $113,926 | $623,545 |
| 28 | Orting | 8,978 | $132,877 | $560,311 |
| 29 | Shoreline | 61,431 | $112,751 | $831,857 |
| 29 | Enumclaw | 12,798 | $121,250 | $680,130 |
| 31 | Mountlake Terrace | 23,104 | $107,687 | $699,079 |
| 31 | Poulsbo | 12,165 | $116,250 | $665,803 |
| 33 | Ridgefield | 13,408 | $116,389 | $665,864 |
| 34 | Edgewood | 13,032 | $116,132 | $737,911 |
| 35 | University Place | 34,911 | $99,031 | $661,410 |
| 36 | Covington | 21,233 | $134,502 | $678,607 |
| 37 | Duvall | 8,526 | $197,361 | $980,302 |
| 38 | Gig Harbor | 12,424 | $118,395 | $820,740 |
| 39 | Steilacoom | 6,686 | $100,851 | $640,511 |
| 40 | Snohomish | 10,239 | $87,250 | $939,010 |
| 41 | Tumwater | 26,956 | $95,212 | $526,058 |
| 42 | Monroe | 19,755 | $110,461 | $733,030 |
| 43 | Washougal | 17,490 | $106,368 | $640,872 |
| 43 | Sultan | 6,116 | $94,730 | $564,591 |
| 45 | Buckley | 5,371 | $124,583 | $657,837 |
| 46 | DuPont | 9,931 | $120,781 | $621,242 |
| 47 | Renton | 105,317 | $100,432 | $764,375 |
| 48 | Lacey | 57,737 | $90,625 | $516,096 |
| 49 | Woodland | 6,487 | $81,193 | $589,005 |
| 50 | Sumner | 10,733 | $98,191 | $593,648 |
| 51 | Lynnwood | 40,110 | $77,704 | $784,107 |
| 51 | Yelm | 11,102 | $90,750 | $489,021 |
| 53 | Pacific | 7,066 | $115,625 | $561,715 |
| 54 | Olympia | 55,951 | $81,302 | $533,713 |
| 54 | Everett | 111,845 | $83,512 | $662,786 |
| 56 | Spokane Valley | 106,365 | $74,042 | $408,888 |
| 57 | Milton | 8,894 | $96,540 | $572,123 |
| 58 | Puyallup | 42,746 | $97,826 | $570,442 |
| 59 | Des Moines | 32,823 | $92,483 | $612,731 |
| 60 | Vancouver | 195,300 | $81,338 | $509,318 |
| 61 | Port Orchard | 17,149 | $89,795 | $556,428 |
| 62 | Cheney | 12,804 | $54,503 | $420,133 |
| 63 | Burien | 51,513 | $91,318 | $650,469 |
| 64 | Bremerton | 44,830 | $74,940 | $483,132 |
| 65 | Kent | 135,603 | $92,302 | $656,314 |
| 66 | Shelton | 10,612 | $69,598 | $422,092 |
| 67 | Auburn | 85,676 | $97,884 | $614,182 |
| 68 | Federal Way | 99,493 | $86,909 | $601,744 |
| 69 | Fife | 10,949 | $90,532 | $557,639 |
| 70 | SeaTac | 32,414 | $81,104 | $553,220 |
| 71 | Lakewood | 62,937 | $74,720 | $521,148 |
| 72 | Airway Heights | 11,245 | $62,874 | $372,868 |
| 73 | Tukwila | 21,451 | $78,381 | $575,995 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS via Saturday Night Science. 73 Washington suburbs within 30 miles of a city over 200,000.
Summary
Summary: There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In Washington
If you’re measuring the locations in Washington where there are lots to do, and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.
The best suburbs in Washington are Mercer Island, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Normandy Park, Kirkland, Bainbridge Island, Woodinville, Redmond, Camas, and Black Diamond. Not sold on Washington? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Suburbs In Washington FAQs
What is the best suburb in Washington?
Mercer Island is the best suburb to live in Washington for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. It pairs a $219,069 median household income with a $2,326,984 median home value.
What are the best suburbs in Washington?
The best suburbs in Washington are Mercer Island, Sammamish, Snoqualmie, Normandy Park, Kirkland, Bainbridge Island, Woodinville, Redmond, Camas, and Black Diamond. We ranked all 73 qualifying Washington suburbs.
What counts as a suburb?
For this ranking, a suburb is a town within 30 miles of a city with more than 200,000 people. 73 Washington places fit that definition this year.
How do you rank the best suburbs?
Suburbs are scored on home values, income, density, unemployment, commute times, education, insurance coverage, and poverty, using Census American Community Survey data. The best average across all eight wins.
Which Washington suburb ranked last?
Tukwila came in last of the 73 Washington suburbs we scored. Somebody has to, and the full ordering is in the table above.
