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
Seattle/North Central
60fit
North Central
Official district: North Central
Data vintage. ACS 2024 5-year · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM Sep 2026 · updated Sep 2026
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.
fremontwallingfordgreen lakephinney ridge
Best in Seattle for familiesWalkable SeattleUnder $2,500 rent
Why this score
Safety
58
88 violent · 2132 property · 39.4 per 1k (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026)+8 vs city set
Schools
81
Rating 8.0 / 10 nearby+29 vs city set
Walk
42
OSM: 25 groceries · 64 cafes · 132 transit · 72 parks+6 vs city set
Cost
100
$2,129 ACS median vs your rent budget+2 vs city set
Vibe
42
OSM: 64 cafes · 163 restaurants · 59 bars · 72 parks+14 vs city set
Commute to work
From North Central, a typical weekday is 16 min to Downtown, 12 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
16 min
Pike Place, Pioneer Square · -2 min vs the city-set median
South Lake Union
12 min
Amazon, Cascade · -7 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 $2,129 — 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 ($140K) could “afford” about $3,508 a month at 30% of pay.
59% of households rent. Median home value is $1,091,474.
ACS median rent
$2,129
30% income budget
$3,508
Rent / income
18%
Median home
$1,091,474
Rent since 2014
ACS 5-year median gross rent for Seattle city. Up 79% since 2014. North Central is 5% 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: 25 groceries, 64 cafes, 72 parks, and 132 transit stops.
Daily errands and coffee are realistic on foot. Parks are close — 72 mapped parks in that radius. Transit is dense (132 stops or stations).
64 cafes and 163 restaurants make this one of the busier food pockets in the Seattle set.
OpenStreetMap, 800 meters. Not a Walk Score license. More groceries than 16 of the other 19 areas in this city.
Population
56,361
Median age
34.7
Median income
$140K
Renters
59%
Bachelor+
83%
Violent / 1k
1.6
Property / 1k
37.8
ACS 2024 5-year (2020-2024) · 14 census tracts · SPD Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 · OSM 2026-09-04
NightlifeWaterfrontFamily streets
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.
Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge — the clerk glued them. Search those names. The troll, the lake loop, and a Sunday street that still works without a reservation. This is the Seattle people move here for, in one official polygon.
The glue is the catch: Green Lake’s joggers and Fremont’s bars are not the same 10 p.m. Weight walk, lake, and family depending on which search term you actually meant. Ballard is west. The U District is east.
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.
1,575 reports
- Unauthorized Encampment674
- Abandoned Vehicle/72hr Parking Ordinance202
- Illegal Dumping / Needles140
- Graffiti110
- General Inquiry - Customer Service Bureau89
- Graffiti
- Graffiti
- General Inquiry - Customer Service Bureau
- Overgrown Vegetation
- General Inquiry - Customer Service Bureau
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: lost-and-found.
- Someone left their shoe on the Fremont bridge!
r/Seattle · Sep 1 · 222 upvotes · 59 comments
- Exotic Animals of Green Lake
r/Seattle · Sep 2 · 109 upvotes · 27 comments
- Lost shoe from Fremont Bridge
r/Seattle · Sep 4 · 1 upvote
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 North Central safe?
North Central is middle of the pack for Part I here (safety 58 vs city 50). SPD logged 1.6 violent and 37.8 property incidents per 1,000 residents — 39.4 combined. Visitors count in those numbers. This is not a judgment of who lives here.
What is rent in North Central?
ACS median rent is $2,129 — studios through large apartments mixed together. About 59% of households rent. Median home value is $1,091,474. Survey medians, not a listing you can message tonight.
Is North Central walkable?
Walk is 42 here vs 36 for the Seattle set — you will likely drive or ride for a weekly shop. Inside 800 meters: 25 groceries, 64 cafes, 132 transit stops, 72 parks. Not a Walk Score license.
Is North Central good for families?
The scores lean family relative to this city set. Nearby school rating is 8.0 / 10. Median age is 34.7. That rating is not your assigned campus.
How long is the commute from North Central?
16 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 North Central?
About 56,361 people. Median income $140K. 83% have a bachelor's or higher.
What neighborhoods are next to North Central?
Queen Anne, Interbay, Cascade sit closest on this map. If you are choosing between two official districts, start with North Central vs Queen Anne.
Next door
Adjacent on the map, ranked with your weights.
North Central vs Queen AnneNorth Central vs InterbayNorth Central vs Cascade
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
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
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
33fit
Cascade
$3K median rent
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.
PlannedWaterfrontNightlifeWalk 18Safety 11