Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 67/100
C+
Median home value$1,340,300
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$2,572/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households29%
Seattle 35%
Bellevue
King County151,847 residents2 school districts
74
B
Suburbgrade score
3rd of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strong on amenities and commute & transport, held back by cost of living.
74
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Bellevue yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 74 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Bellevue is like to live in, by category
Bars show Bellevue against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 80/100
B+
Within-state proficiency96th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio18.5
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate93%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 54/100
C−
Housing cost index133
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.72%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.30%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 82/100
B+
Mean commute23.6 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes68%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi21
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 96/100
A+
Restaurants & cafés155
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries23
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks93
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 71/100
B−
Median household income$165,576
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment4.2%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations71%
Seattle 52%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
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No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Bellevue yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
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Do you feel safe walking after dark?
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Can you walk to a grocery store?
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Is it good for young children?
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Are yards and streets well kept?
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Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Bellevue on cost of living
Bellevue's weakest grade is C−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCost of livingOverall
SeaTac13 mi from BellevueB 50 D+ Lynnwood17 mi from BellevueB 59 C Lake Stickney20 mi from BellevueB 58 C Federal Way22 mi from BellevueB 53 C− Mountlake Terrace15 mi from BellevueB 64 C+ Edmonds17 mi from BellevueB− 67 C+ Cost-of-living index composed in-house from housing cost, utilities, effective property tax and local sales tax · Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Effective property tax: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Bellevue
Is Bellevue, WA a good place to live?
Bellevue scores 74 out of 100, 3rd of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Bellevue expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C−. The median home is $1,340,300, 87% above the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.72%. $2,572/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Bellevue?
Schools grade B+. The districts serving Bellevue sit at the 96th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 93% graduation rate and a 18.5 student–teacher ratio. Bellevue is served by Bellevue School District and Issaquah School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Bellevue?
The mean commute is 23.6 min, with 68% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 36% working from home. Transit density is 21 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Bellevue?
Within two miles there are 23 groceries, 155 restaurants and cafés and 93 parks, which grades A+ on amenities.
Are the homes in Bellevue old or new?
The median home in Bellevue was built in 1982 — close to the Seattle median of 1985. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 52% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.