62fit
Northeast
$2K median rent
Ravenna, Wedgwood, Laurelhurst — one official polygon east of the Ave. Tree streets, University Village at the edge, and a quieter read than the District next door.
Family streetsWalk 50Safety 42
Seattle/Lake City
49fit
Lake City
Official district: Lake City
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
Lake City Way is the strip; Matthews Beach is the water. North-end practical — more car than Ballard, cheaper than the lake-adjacent northeast.
meadowbrookmatthews beach
Best in Seattle for familiesWalkable SeattleUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
89
73 violent · 678 property · 24.5 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+39 vs city set
Schools
48
Rating 7.0 / 10 nearby-4 vs city set
Walk
21
OSM: 12 groceries · 11 cafes · 99 transit · 68 parks-15 vs city set
Cost
100
$1,923 ACS median vs your rent budget+2 vs city set
Vibe
14
OSM: 11 cafes · 32 restaurants · 6 bars · 68 parks-14 vs city set
Commute to work
From Lake City, a typical weekday is 28 min to Downtown, 24 min to South Lake Union, 16 min to University. Not live traffic.
University is the fastest of these three job centers from here.
Downtown
28 min
Pike Place, Pioneer Square · +10 min vs the city-set median
South Lake Union
24 min
Amazon, Cascade · +5 min vs the city-set median
University
16 min
UW campus, the Ave · -5 min vs the city-set median · fastest of these three
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 $1,923 — every occupied rental mixed together, not the 1-bed in the window.
That is 18% of median household income — under the 30% HUD line. A household at this area’s median income ($127K) could “afford” about $3,165 a month at 30% of pay.
47% of households rent. Median home value is $972,894.
ACS median rent
$1,923
30% income budget
$3,165
Rent / income
18%
Median home
$972,894
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Seattle city. Up 79% since 2014. Lake City is 5% below 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: 12 groceries, 11 cafes, 68 parks, and 99 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 68 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (99 stops or stations).
11 cafes and 32 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Seattle set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 4 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
30,640
Median age
39
Median income
$127K
Renters
47%
Bachelor+
64%
Violent / 1k
2.4
Property / 1k
22.1
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 8 census tracts · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-04
Family streetsWaterfront
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.
Lake City Way is the strip; Matthews Beach is the lake. North-end practical — more car than Ballard, less money than Laurelhurst next door in Northeast. It is a neighborhood people settle in after they have already tried the cute ones.
Errands work if you picked the right side of the Way. Weight cost and family. Northgate is the mall-and-station version of the same latitude. Northeast is the tree-street upgrade.
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.
395 reports
- Unauthorized Encampment95
- Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance91
- Illegal Dumping / Needles74
- General Inquiry - Customer Service Bureau26
- Parks and Recreation Maintenance20
- Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance
- Illegal Dumping / Needles
- Streetlight Maintenance
- Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance
- Overgrown Vegetation
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.
One r/Seattle post in this snapshot names Lake City.
- Brown tap water in Lake City?
r/Seattle · Aug 25 · 7 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 Lake City safe?
Lake City sits on the quieter side of this Seattle map (safety 89 vs city 50). SPD logged 2.4 violent and 22.1 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 24.5 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in Lake City?
ACS median rent is $1,923 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 47% of households rent. Median home value is $972,894. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is Lake City walkable?
Walk is 21 here vs 36 for the Seattle set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 12 groceries, 11 cafes, 99 transit stops, 68 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is Lake City good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 7.0 / 10. Median age is 39. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from Lake City?
28 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 Lake City?
About 30,640 people. Median income $127K. 64% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to Lake City?
Northeast, University District, Northgate sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official districts, start with Lake City vs Northeast.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
Lake City vs NortheastLake City vs University DistrictLake City vs Northgate
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
52fit
Northgate
$2K median rent
The mall became light rail and apartments. Maple Leaf’s bungalows sit next to a station that did not exist a decade ago. North-end practical, not a postcard.
Family streetsPlannedWalk 37Safety 63
47fit
University District
$2K median rent
The Ave, the campus, and a median income that student households pull down. Light rail now. It is a neighborhood you age out of, or a neighborhood you never leave because of the bus.
Near UTNightlifeWalk 31Safety 37