Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 56/100
C−
Median home value$733,200
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$2,233/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households29%
Seattle 35%
Fairwood
King County17,856 residents2 school districts
54
C−
Suburbgrade score
41st of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strongest on cost of living, held back by commute & transport.
54
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Fairwood yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 54 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 Fairwood is like to live in, by category
Bars show Fairwood against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 48/100
D+
Within-state proficiency49th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio19.2
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate84%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 63/100
C+
Housing cost index101
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.89%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.30%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 44/100
D
Mean commute33.6 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes43%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi8.8
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 59/100
C
Restaurants & cafés27
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries1
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks138
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 55/100
C−
Median household income$122,134
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment5.3%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations53%
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 Fairwood 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 Fairwood on commute & transport
Fairwood's weakest grade is D. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCommuteOverall
Redmond16 mi from FairwoodA− 75 B Bellevue10 mi from FairwoodB+ 74 B Kirkland18 mi from FairwoodB+ 74 B Mercer Island9 mi from FairwoodB+ 75 B Seattle15 mi from FairwoodB 70 B− Issaquah8 mi from FairwoodB 73 B Mean commute: ACS 2020–24 · Commuting under 30 minutes: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Fairwood
Is Fairwood, WA a good place to live?
Fairwood scores 54 out of 100, 41st of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on cost of living and weakest on commute & transport. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Fairwood expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $733,200, 2% above the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.89%. $2,233/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Fairwood?
Schools grade D+. The districts serving Fairwood sit at the 49th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 84% graduation rate and a 19.2 student–teacher ratio. Fairwood is served by Kent School District and Renton School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Fairwood?
The mean commute is 33.6 min, with 43% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 26% working from home. Transit density is 8.8 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Fairwood?
Within two miles there are 1 groceries, 27 restaurants and cafés and 138 parks, which grades C on amenities.
Are the homes in Fairwood old or new?
The median home in Fairwood 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. 70% 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.