The 10 Best Counties To Live In Washington For 2024


The best counties in Washington are King County and Kitsap County for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Washington a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Washington.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Evergreen State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.

The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Washington, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 39 counties in the state.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Table | FAQs | Summary


King County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Washington. And you should avoid Adams County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in Washington. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Washington and the cheapest places to live in Washington.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The Best Counties To Live In Washington For 2024

1. King County

Algona, WA

Source: Wikipedia User brewbooks from near Seattle, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Seattle
Population: 2,254,371
Median Income: $116,340 (best)
Median Home Price: $805,240 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.5% (8th best)
More on King CountyData

2. Kitsap County

Bainbridge Island, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Casey Yee | CC BY-SA 2.0

Biggest Place: Bremerton
Population: 275,411
Median Income: $93,675 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $538,014 (8th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (9th best)
More on Kitsap CountyData

3. Island County

Coupeville, WA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Oak Harbor
Population: 86,510
Median Income: $82,850 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $590,222 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (20th best)
More on Island CountyData

4. Snohomish County

Arlington, WA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Everett
Population: 828,337
Median Income: $104,083 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $701,862 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.4% (7th best)
More on Snohomish CountyData

5. San Juan County

Friday Harbor, WA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Friday Harbor
Population: 18,001
Median Income: $76,745 (14th best)
Median Home Price: $890,333 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.2% (best)
More on San Juan CountyData

6. Pierce County

Auburn, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Joe Mabel | GFDL

Biggest Place: Tacoma
Population: 918,993
Median Income: $91,486 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $527,871 (9th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.0% (12th best)
More on Pierce CountyData

7. Skamania County

Biggest Place: Carson
Population: 12,118
Median Income: $84,500 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $523,515 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (15th best)
More on Skamania CountyData

8. Clark County

Camas, WA

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Vancouver
Population: 504,091
Median Income: $90,115 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $523,557 (10th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.2% (14th best)
More on Clark CountyData

9. Thurston County

Olympia, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Patrick | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Lacey
Population: 294,272
Median Income: $88,895 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $494,702 (14th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (2best)
More on Thurston CountyData

10. Whatcom County

Bellingham, WA

Source: Wikipedia User Nick Kelly / Faithlife Corporation | CC BY-SA 4.0

Biggest Place: Bellingham
Population: 226,523
Median Income: $77,581 (13th best)
Median Home Price: $582,171 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (11th best)
More on Whatcom CountyData

Methodology: How do you determine which Washington county is the best?

To give you the best county in Washington, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.

We paid particular attention to:

  • Violent Crime Rates
  • Property Crime Rates
  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Adult Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in Washington across each of the criteria from one to 39, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Washington.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Evergreen State.

We updated this article for 2024. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in Washington.

Read on to see why King County is the best county, while Adams County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Washington.

Summary: The Best Counties In Washington To Call Home For 2024

Living in Washington can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

The best counties in Washington are King County, Kitsap County, Island County, Snohomish County, San Juan County, Pierce County, Skamania County, Clark County, Thurston County, and Whatcom County.

But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in Washington according to the data:

  1. Adams County
  2. Yakima County
  3. Okanogan County

For more Washington reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Washington

Rank County Population Median Income Median Home Price
1 King County 2,254,371 $116,340 $805,240
2 Kitsap County 275,411 $93,675 $538,014
3 Island County 86,510 $82,850 $590,222
4 Snohomish County 828,337 $104,083 $701,862
5 San Juan County 18,001 $76,745 $890,333
6 Pierce County 918,993 $91,486 $527,871
7 Skamania County 12,118 $84,500 $523,515
8 Clark County 504,091 $90,115 $523,557
9 Thurston County 294,272 $88,895 $494,702
10 Whatcom County 226,523 $77,581 $582,171
11 Skagit County 129,480 $82,029 $545,355
12 Spokane County 538,711 $70,394 $403,365
13 Douglas County 43,189 $79,422 $462,026
14 Chelan County 79,076 $71,876 $496,629
15 Jefferson County 33,006 $64,796 $599,281
16 Benton County 207,560 $83,778 $427,351
17 Wahkiakum County 4,476 $59,167 $392,952
18 Lincoln County 11,036 $68,172 $302,320
19 Kittitas County 44,424 $66,800 $502,217
20 Clallam County 77,333 $66,108 $477,028
21 Cowlitz County 110,621 $70,912 $395,160
22 Pacific County 23,396 $58,889 $333,211
23 Columbia County 3,980 $68,825 $277,144
24 Mason County 66,053 $74,388 $440,881
25 Stevens County 46,774 $62,381 $365,007
26 Lewis County 82,663 $67,247 $417,633
27 Pend Oreille County 13,570 $59,353 $364,851
28 Garfield County 2,310 $57,958 $232,235
29 Whitman County 47,141 $49,345 $371,759
30 Walla Walla County 62,150 $66,635 $397,010
31 Franklin County 96,692 $77,877 $401,516
32 Asotin County 22,370 $63,724 $305,217
33 Klickitat County 22,798 $66,581 $464,206
34 Ferry County 7,260 $50,424 $279,648
35 Grant County 99,145 $66,387 $345,230
36 Grays Harbor County 75,672 $59,105 $313,912
37 Okanogan County 42,336 $58,218 $300,434
38 Yakima County 256,143 $64,910 $327,198
39 Adams County 20,557 $63,105 $291,977
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.