Washington cities

The best places to live in Washington

Washington's largest cities ranked on cost, safety, schools, jobs and quality of life. Bonney Lake leads the list.

We scored Washington's cities on the same factors as our state rankings, then ranked them. Below are the 10 largest by population. Two scores per city: value (what you get for the cost) and overall livability (everything combined). Tap any city for its full profile.

#CityMedian homeRentValueOverall
20 Bellevue $951,200 $2,220 41 65
54 Renton $474,700 $1,733 39 44
58 Everett $394,900 $1,426 32 41
66 Seattle $767,500 $1,801 28 36
68 Federal Way $384,200 $1,487 30 35
73 Kent $414,200 $1,612 28 31
76 Spokane Valley $250,500 $1,057 46 29
81 Tacoma $347,100 $1,343 36 27
88 Spokane $236,300 $956 41 22
89 Vancouver $343,900 $1,396 31 22

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Sources: Home prices and rent from Zillow; income and jobs from the U.S. Census; schools from state education data; crime from the FBI; air quality from the EPA. Rankings are within Washington. Updated 2026.