Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 79/100
B+
Median home value$1,230,700
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$2,740/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households24%
Seattle 35%
Cottage Lake
King County22,518 residents2 school districts
65
C+
Suburbgrade score
19th of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strong on housing & affordability and schools, held back by amenities.
65
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Cottage Lake yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 65 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 Cottage Lake is like to live in, by category
Bars show Cottage Lake against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 78/100
B+
Within-state proficiency96th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio18.9
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate94%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 49/100
D+
Housing cost index130
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.85%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.30%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 69/100
B−
Mean commute25.9 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes62%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi3.1
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 28/100
F
Restaurants & cafés3
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries1
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks14
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 71/100
B−
Median household income$213,106
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment4.1%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations69%
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 Cottage Lake 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 Cottage Lake on amenities
Cottage Lake's weakest grade is F. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same six inputs.
SuburbAmenitiesOverall
Seattle16 mi from Cottage LakeA+ 70 B− Lynnwood12 mi from Cottage LakeA+ 59 C Bellevue11 mi from Cottage LakeA+ 74 B Renton19 mi from Cottage LakeA+ 58 C Kirkland7 mi from Cottage LakeA 74 B Mountlake Terrace11 mi from Cottage LakeA 64 C+ Restaurants & cafés: OpenStreetMap Sep 2026 · Groceries: OpenStreetMap Sep 2026
Common questions about living in Cottage Lake
Is Cottage Lake, WA a good place to live?
Cottage Lake scores 65 out of 100, 19th of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on housing & affordability and weakest on amenities. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Cottage Lake expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades D+. The median home is $1,230,700, 72% above the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.85%. $2,740/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Cottage Lake?
Schools grade B+. The districts serving Cottage Lake sit at the 96th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 94% graduation rate and a 18.9 student–teacher ratio. Cottage Lake is served by Northshore School District and Lake Washington School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Cottage Lake?
The mean commute is 25.9 min, with 62% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 34% working from home. Transit density is 3.1 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Cottage Lake?
Within two miles there are 1 groceries, 3 restaurants and cafés and 14 parks, which grades F on amenities.
Are the homes in Cottage Lake old or new?
The median home in Cottage Lake was built in 1984 — 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. 98% 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.