77fit
Downtown
$2K median rent
Pike Place to Pioneer Square to Belltown to First Hill — one official district, four different nights. Visitor traffic inflates the Part I rate. Walk scores max.
NightlifePlannedWalk 100Safety 5
Seattle/Cascade
33fit
Cascade
Official district: Cascade
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
The official name is Cascade. Search South Lake Union or Eastlake. Amazon’s campus, Lake Union, and a skyline that did not exist fifteen years ago.
south lake unionslueastlakewestlake
Best in Seattle for familiesWalkable SeattleUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
11
90 violent · 1389 property · 98.3 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)-39 vs city set
Schools
42
Rating 6.8 / 10 nearby-10 vs city set
Walk
18
OSM: 11 groceries · 40 cafes · 67 transit · 35 parks-18 vs city set
Cost
88
$2,502 ACS median vs your rent budget-10 vs city set
Vibe
18
OSM: 40 cafes · 77 restaurants · 15 bars · 35 parks-10 vs city set
Commute to work
From Cascade, a typical weekday is 10 min to Downtown, 6 min to South Lake Union, 14 min to University. Not live traffic.
South Lake Union is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
10 min
Pike Place, Pioneer Square · -8 min vs the city-set median
South Lake Union
6 min
Amazon, Cascade · -13 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
University
14 min
UW campus, the Ave · -7 min vs the city-set median
Minutes are baked from neighborhood geography to three job centers — not Google, not this hour’s traffic.
Cost of living
The ACS median rent is $2,502 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 21% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($144K) could “afford” about $3,608 a month at 30% of pay.
95% of households rent. Median home value is $640,715.
ACS median rent
$2,502
30% income budget
$3,608
Rent / income
21%
Median home
$640,715
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Seattle city. Up 79% since 2014. Cascade is 23% above the 2024 city median.
Overlapping 5-year ACS windows (B25064), not asking rent. Census does not publish a rent series for each official neighborhood, so the line is the city place. The dashed mark is this area’s ACS 2024 median.
HUD treats 30% of income as the cost-burden line. We do not split ACS rent into 1-bed vs 2-bed. Method.
Within a walk
Within a short walk of this official district: 11 groceries, 40 cafes, 35 parks, and 67 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 35 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (67 stops or stations).
40 cafes and 77 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Seattle set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 3 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
15,054
Median age
29.4
Median income
$144K
Renters
95%
Bachelor+
82%
Violent / 1k
6.0
Property / 1k
92.3
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 4 census tracts · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-04
PlannedWaterfrontNightlife
Crime is SPD Part I reports per 1,000 ACS residents — not a judgment of who lives here. Home and rent figures are ACS medians, not live MLS. Read the method.
On the ground
What it is like to live here, beyond the scores.
The clerk named it Cascade. Everyone else says South Lake Union or Eastlake. Amazon, the streetcar, and a lake you can walk to if you picked the right stack. Housing is almost all rental and almost all new. The median rent is the tell.
It is a job-center neighborhood that learned to sell itself as a neighborhood. Groceries arrived with the towers. Weight new-urban and commute to SLU. If you wanted brick and a last call, Capitol Hill is over the hill. If you wanted a house, you are in the wrong district.
Compiled from Zillow neighborhood guides, 5280 Magazine, Chicago and San Francisco resident guides, Mpls With Love, Eastside LA reporting, Seattle Times coverage, and local writing, 2025–2026. Editorial — not part of the fit score.
Reported here lately
City 311 service requests in this official unit, last 14 days. This is what neighbors filed with the city — not a chat thread, and not part of the fit score.
379 reports
- Unauthorized Encampment110
- Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance50
- Graffiti39
- Scooter or Bike Share Issue33
- Illegal Dumping / Needles22
- Parks and Recreation Maintenance
- Pothole
- General Inquiry - Customer Service Bureau
- Unauthorized Encampment
- Graffiti
City of Seattle 311 (Find It, Fix It), last 14 days, mapped to Neighborhood Map Atlas districts. No street addresses stored. Method.
On Reddit
Public posts from r/Seattle that mention this neighborhood. Not Nextdoor, not people on this block, and not part of the fit score.
In r/Seattle lately: parks.
- Bike and Celebrate the Burke-Gilman Trail Sept. 12 | Cascade Bicycle Club
r/Seattle · Sep 1 · 14 upvotes
- Pikmin Bloom has taken over Westlake station in Seattle
r/Seattle · Aug 29 · 12 upvotes · 1 comment
The line above is a reading of the titles, not a verdict. Up to 3 links, last 90 days, snapshot 2026-09-01. Method.
Common questions
Straight answers from the numbers on this page.
Is Cascade safe?
Cascade shows more Part I than most of this Seattle set (safety 11 vs city 50). SPD logged 6.0 violent and 92.3 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 98.3 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Cascade?
ACS median rent is $2,502 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 95% of households rent. Median home value is $640,715. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Cascade walkable?
Walk is 18 here vs 36 for the Seattle set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 11 groceries, 40 cafes, 67 transit stops, 35 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Cascade good for families?
There is more night and visitor traffic in the mix — not the quietest family default. Nearby school rating is 6.8 / 10. Median age is 29.4. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Cascade?
10 typical weekday minutes to Downtown. Not the app on your phone this hour. Other job centers are further down this page.
How many people live in Cascade?
About 15,054 people. Median income $144K. 82% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Cascade?
Queen Anne, Interbay, Downtown sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official districts, start with Cascade vs Queen Anne.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Cascade vs Queen AnneCascade vs InterbayCascade vs Downtown
60fit
North Central
$2K median rent
The official district glues Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake, and Phinney Ridge. Search those names. The troll, the lake loop, and the Sunday streets are all in here.
NightlifeWaterfrontFamily streetsWalk 42Safety 58
54fit
Capitol Hill
$2K median rent
Search Broadway or Pike/Pine; the official district also swallows Madison Park and Montlake. Night on one edge, lake money on the other.
NightlifeWalk 48Safety 16
47fit
Queen Anne
$2K median rent
The hill looks at downtown; Lower Queen Anne eats after the game. Counterbalance and a grocery you can walk to if you picked the right side of the ridge.
NightlifeFamily streetsWalk 33Safety 21
40fit
Interbay
$2K median rent
The cut between Magnolia and Queen Anne. Tracks, yards, a driving range, and a few apartment stacks. You live here for the commute, not the block party.
Walk 10Safety 68