Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 39/100
D−
Median home value$587,800
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$1,909/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households39%
Seattle 35%
Kent
King County135,603 residentsKent School District
55
C−
Suburbgrade score
38th of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strongest on amenities, held back by housing & affordability.
55
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Kent yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 55 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 Kent is like to live in, by category
Bars show Kent against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 51/100
D+
Within-state proficiency47th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio17.6
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate84%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 67/100
C+
Housing cost index90
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.84%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.40%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 47/100
D
Mean commute30.4 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes51%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi16
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 95/100
A+
Restaurants & cafés187
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries22
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks146
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 40/100
D−
Median household income$92,302
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment7.0%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations36%
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 Kent 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 Kent on housing & affordability
Kent's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbHousingOverall
Sammamish16 mi from KentB+ 70 B− Mercer Island12 mi from KentB 75 B Snoqualmie19 mi from KentB 69 B− Union Hill-Novelty Hill22 mi from KentB 64 C+ Bellevue15 mi from KentC+ 74 B Artondale21 mi from KentC+ 54 C− Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Ownership rate: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Kent
Is Kent, WA a good place to live?
Kent scores 55 out of 100, 38th of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on amenities and weakest on housing & affordability. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Kent expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $587,800, 18% below the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.84%. $1,909/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Kent?
Schools grade D+. The districts serving Kent sit at the 47th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 84% graduation rate and a 17.6 student–teacher ratio. Kent is served by Kent School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Kent?
The mean commute is 30.4 min, with 51% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 14% working from home. Transit density is 16 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Kent?
Within two miles there are 22 groceries, 187 restaurants and cafés and 146 parks, which grades A+ on amenities.
Are the homes in Kent old or new?
The median home in Kent was built in 1985 — 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. 58% 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.