The Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metro has 4.1M residents (per 2024 ACS 5-year Estimates ), a 2024 median household income of $115K, median home value of $718K, median age of 38, and a 47% bachelor's-degree share among adults 25 and older. The analysis below clusters neighborhoods within the metro's urbanized areas, covering 3.4M of those 4.1M residents. The eastside of Lake Washington — Mercer Island, Medina, and Bellevue — leads on home values, incomes, and education, while the south-sound corridor around Tacoma and Joint Base Lewis–McChord sits at the bottom.
Median home value
The high end sits on the eastside of Lake Washington. The top neighborhood is anchored on Mercer Island at $1.7M, more than double the metro median. Just across the water, the lakeshore area west of Bellevue — covering Medina and the other Points communities — registers $1.5M, with adjacent neighborhoods east of Seattle and around Bellevue also clustered near $1.5M.
At the bottom, two neighborhoods south of Tacoma come in at $369K and $419K, with a band stretching through south Parkland ($421K), east Lakewood ($430K), and north of Spanaway ($438K). The whole southern Pierce County corridor sits roughly half the metro median, and the rest of the distribution shades from light-blue eastside lakeshore values down through Seattle proper into the pink south-sound tier.
Median household income
Top incomes don't mirror the home-value map exactly. The leaders are northeast of Bellevue: west of Cottage Lake at $204K, east Sammamish at $203K, and a neighborhood east of Seattle at $201K. The Mercer Island area still appears at $199K, and north of Union Hill–Novelty Hill registers $198K — all roughly 1.7× the metro median.
The lowest income neighborhoods sit south of Tacoma at $60K and east Lakewood at $64K, both bordering Joint Base Lewis–McChord . South of SeaTac comes in at $65K, and south of Everett at $69K. The map's pink band runs along the south-sound corridor and a smaller strip in south Snohomish County.
Median age
The oldest neighborhoods sit on the metro's outer edges: north of Gig Harbor across the Tacoma Narrows at 48, north of Shoreline at the north end of King County also at 48, and the Mercer Island and Union Hill–Novelty Hill clusters at 47.
The youngest neighborhood sits inside Joint Base Lewis–McChord at 26, consistent with the active-duty population around the base. Inside Seattle itself, the area around the University of Washington reads 31, with another central Seattle neighborhood and one south of Everett both at 33. The metro median age of 38 sits in between, with the suburban ring running older and the urban core and military area running younger.
Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree
Education is the most skewed metric. A central Seattle neighborhood tops out at 88% with a bachelor's degree, with the east-of-Seattle corridor through Bellevue at 83%, the Mercer Island area also at 83%, west Seattle at 79%, and the area west of Bellevue at 78%. That eastside-plus-central-Seattle band runs well over the metro's 47% share.
The lowest shares sit in the south-Pierce-County corridor: east Lakewood at 14%, north of Spanaway at 16%, south Parkland at 17%, east of Frederickson at 17%, and south of Tacoma at 17%. The map shows a sharp dark-purple block from Seattle east through Bellevue and Sammamish, fading to pink across the south sound.
Where the metrics overlap
The eastside lakeshore cluster on and around Mercer Island sits at the top of all four metrics — home value, income, age, and education. The neighborhoods east of Seattle and around Bellevue show the same pattern on three of four metrics. The Pierce County corridor south of Tacoma — south Tacoma proper, east Lakewood, south Parkland, and north Spanaway — sits at the bottom on home value, income, and education simultaneously.
Age breaks the pattern. The youngest neighborhood is inside Joint Base Lewis–McChord, not the wealthy core; the oldest neighborhoods include both affluent islands and outer ring areas like north of Gig Harbor. And the central-Seattle neighborhood that leads on bachelor's share runs young (median age 31) and is not among the highest-income areas, reflecting a university and early-career population separate from the eastside wealth cluster.
Key Takeaways
- The Mercer Island area leads the metro on home value at $1.7M, income at $199K, age at 47, and bachelor's share at 83% — the only neighborhood at the top of all four metrics.
- Top incomes shift slightly off the lakeshore, with west of Cottage Lake ($204K) and east Sammamish ($203K) edging out Mercer Island.
- The south-Tacoma / Lakewood / Parkland corridor sits at the bottom on home value (as low as $369K), income ($60K), and bachelor's share (14%) together.
- The youngest neighborhood (26) sits inside Joint Base Lewis–McChord; the oldest (48) is across the Tacoma Narrows north of Gig Harbor.
- A central Seattle neighborhood near the University of Washington has the metro's highest bachelor's share at 88% while running well below median age at 31.