Seattle

Best Seattle suburbs for young professionals

Ranked on employment and income at 25%, amenities at 25%, commute at 20%, median rent at 15% (lower is better) and cost of living at 15%. Schools are not counted.

Updated Sep 2026·59 suburbs considered, 10 listed
1
Seattle Center as night falls.
Seattle$939k median · 26.0 min commute
Employment C+Amenities A+Commute B
74
Score
overall 70 B−
2
Drone view of Redmond, Washington State, USA
Redmond$1.17M median · 22.1 min commute
Employment B−Amenities ACommute A−
73
Score
overall 75 B
3
Drone view of Downtown Bellevue, Washington State, USA
Bellevue$1.34M median · 23.6 min commute
Employment B−Amenities A+Commute B+
71
Score
overall 74 B
4
The downtown waterfront area of Kirkland, Washington, on the shores of Lake Washington.
Kirkland$1.12M median · 23.9 min commute
Employment B−Amenities ACommute B+
71
Score
overall 74 B
5
The downtown area of Edmonds, WA.
Edmonds$890k median · 26.6 min commute
Employment CAmenities ACommute B−
70
Score
overall 67 C+
6
Drone view of Issaquah, Washington State, USA
Issaquah$963k median · 25.3 min commute
Employment BAmenities ACommute B
70
Score
overall 73 B
7
Mountlake Terrace, welcome sign at the Mountlake Terrace Transit Center
Mountlake Terrace$667k median · 27.9 min commute
Employment CAmenities ACommute C
68
Score
overall 64 C+
8
Aerial photo of Mercer Island as seen from the north-west on a commercial flight from Seattle to Detroit. Despite bringing a microfiber cloth to clean the aircr
Mercer Island$2.00M+ median · 23.6 min commute
Employment BAmenities B−Commute B+
67
Score
overall 75 B
9
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Woodinville, Washington, U.S. Photo by Ron Zimmerman. Use only with credit.
Woodinville$1.10M median · 25.5 min commute
Employment B−Amenities BCommute B−
66
Score
overall 70 B−
10
Photo of Kenmore, Washington's harbour, taken by Dara Korra'ti (Solarbird) in autumn 2005, from the Uplake neighbourhood in Kenmore. The start of the industrial
Kenmore$921k median · 28.8 min commute
Employment B−Amenities BCommute C
66
Score
overall 68 B−
This list's weighting
Employment 25%Amenities 25%Commute 20%Median rent (lower is better) 15%Cost of living 15%
Other Seattle lists
Best Seattle suburbs for familiesMost affordable Seattle suburbsBest Seattle suburbs for schoolsShortest commutes to Downtown SeattleMost walkable Seattle suburbsHow we score Seattle suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Seattle (Jeffery Hayes · CC BY-SA 3.0); Redmond (Spicypepper999 · CC0); Bellevue (Spicypepper999 · CC0); Kirkland (Jelson25 · CC BY-SA 3.0); Edmonds (Sea Cow · CC BY-SA 4.0); Issaquah (Spicypepper999 · CC0); Mountlake Terrace (ECTran71 (talk) · Public domain); Mercer Island (Dllu · CC BY-SA 4.0); Woodinville (FloweringHearth · CC BY 2.5); Kenmore (The original uploader was Solarbird at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 2.5).