Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 76/100
B
Median home value$2,000,000+
Seattle $717,500
Median rent$2,502/mo
Seattle $2,000/mo
Cost-burdened households31%
Seattle 35%
Mercer Island
King County25,307 residentsMercer Island School District
75
B
Suburbgrade score
2nd of 59 Seattle suburbs. Strong on schools and commute & transport, held back by cost of living.
75
Seattle median 59
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Mercer Island yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 75 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 Mercer Island is like to live in, by category
Bars show Mercer Island against Seattle. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 83/100
A−
Within-state proficiency99th pct
Seattle median 70th pct
Student–teacher ratio18.0
Seattle median 18.4
Graduation rate93%
Seattle median 88%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 64/100
C+
Housing cost index134
Seattle 100
Eff. tax rate0.65%
Seattle 0.77%
Local sales tax10.30%
Seattle median 10.30%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 79/100
B+
Mean commute23.6 min
Seattle 29.2 min
Under 30 minutes68%
Seattle 55%
Transit stops / sq mi6.0
Seattle median 8.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 68/100
B−
Restaurants & cafés31
Seattle median 84 · within 2 miles
Groceries4
Seattle median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks72
Seattle median 95 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 77/100
B
Median household income$219,069
Seattle $115,177
Unemployment3.0%
Seattle 4.8%
Professional occupations75%
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 Mercer Island 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 Mercer Island on cost of living
Mercer Island's weakest grade is C+. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCost of livingOverall
SeaTac9 mi from Mercer IslandB 50 D+ Lynnwood19 mi from Mercer IslandB 59 C Lake Stickney22 mi from Mercer IslandB 58 C Federal Way18 mi from Mercer IslandB 53 C− Mountlake Terrace16 mi from Mercer IslandB 64 C+ Edmonds18 mi from Mercer IslandB− 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 Mercer Island
Is Mercer Island, WA a good place to live?
Mercer Island scores 75 out of 100, 2nd of 59 Seattle suburbs. It is strongest on schools and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Mercer Island expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades C+. The median home is $2,000,000+, 179% above the Seattle median, and the effective property tax rate is 0.65%. $2,502/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Mercer Island?
Schools grade A−. The districts serving Mercer Island sit at the 99th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a 93% graduation rate and a 18.0 student–teacher ratio. Mercer Island is served by Mercer Island School District. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Mercer Island?
The mean commute is 23.6 min, with 68% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 39% working from home. Transit density is 6.0 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Mercer Island?
Within two miles there are 4 groceries, 31 restaurants and cafés and 72 parks, which grades B− on amenities.
Are the homes in Mercer Island old or new?
The median home in Mercer Island was built in 1973 — older than 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. 67% 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.
Six Seattle lists
Best Seattle suburbs for familiesMost affordable Seattle suburbsBest Seattle suburbs for schoolsShortest commutes to Downtown SeattleMost walkable Seattle suburbsBest Seattle suburbs for young professionalsCompare Mercer Island
Seattle vs Mercer IslandBellevue vs Mercer IslandEvery Seattle suburb, side by side