Is Maple Heights-Lake Desire a good place to live?
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its best grade is for health — it is healthier than 96% of U.S. towns. Maple Heights-Lake Desire ranks 124th of 285 in Washington, with a B− overall. That leaves it better than 51% of U.S. towns. The weak point is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $876K, 7.6 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income. Walkability is weaker too (D). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Spring Lake/Lake Desire Park, at 384 acres with 7.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · OpenStreetMap.
How Maple Heights-Lake Desire grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Maple Heights-Lake Desire is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Maple Heights-Lake Desire stand out
Where Maple Heights-Lake Desire beats most towns.
Maple Heights-Lake Desire has grown 23% from 2010 to 2020
3,152 counted in 2010 and 3,873 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Maple Heights-Lake Desire.
Maple Heights-Lake Desire has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns and is one of Washington’s best towns for the outdoors, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Washington.
In Maple Heights-Lake Desire, 18.3% of the land is conserved
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #1 of 285 in Washington.
Maple Heights-Lake Desire’s trail network density is 3.7 miles per square mile. Count the trails in 7 parks and preserves and they come to 16 miles. Between them, the parks and preserves give Maple Heights-Lake Desire 793 acres of open land.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Spring Lake/Lake Desire Park | 7.6 mi | 384 |
| 2. McGarvey Park Open Space | 6.2 mi | 293 |
| 3. Wetland 14 Natural Area | 0.4 mi | 94 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Maple Heights-Lake Desire’s schools rank ahead of 66% of Washington districts
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to the Kent School District. Maple Heights-Lake Desire’s only public school teaches 911 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 911 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within WA on state tests and graduation
Maple Heights-Lake Desire earns an A+ for health
Its widest gap with Washington is tooth loss: 5.7% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9% statewide.
6% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Maple Heights-Lake Desire, below both the Washington town median (7.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (8.1%). Maple Heights-Lake Desire: 23% of adults have obesity. On the CDC’s 31 measures, Maple Heights-Lake Desire is ahead of Washington on 12 and behind on 1. Two figures for adults in the town: 14% get no exercise outside work, 8.1% smoke cigarettes.
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | Typical Washington town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 33% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Maple Heights-Lake Desire | WA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.7% | 9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6% | 8.4% |
| More adults with high cholesterol | 37.3% | 34.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For most of its workers, the job is outside Maple Heights-Lake Desire
Maple Heights-Lake Desire has 211 jobs for its 1,762 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
0.8% of working residents work locally in Maple Heights-Lake Desire. Employers in Maple Heights-Lake Desire added 69 jobs between 2014 and 2024, to 211. Also worth knowing: for Maple Heights-Lake Desire, the middle household income is put at $143,000, against $98,000 in Washington’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. The average commute for Maple Heights-Lake Desire is 30 minutes.
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | Typical Washington town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $143,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.8% | 4.9% | 7.9% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2024 · ACS
Young adults are less common in Maple Heights-Lake Desire than in Washington
Adults 18 to 34 are 11% of residents (24% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide). The share of adults 25 and older in Maple Heights-Lake Desire who hold a bachelor’s degree or more is 47%. The town’s age of the median resident works out to 45.7 years.
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | Typical Washington town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 47% | 30% | 29% |
| Median age | 45.7 years | 38.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 26% | 22% | 22% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 128 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.8 points). Across Washington, 49.6% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 79% are men (WA 52%).
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | WA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.1% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 15.6% | 9.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 4% | 15.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.2% | 14.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.4% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.6% | 12% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.7% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.5% | 6.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 7.7% | 10.4% |
| High school | 14.2% | 21.6% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.4% | 21% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.1% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29.2% | 24% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.1% | 15.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,100, single groups can be off by several points
Maple Heights-Lake Desire faces a high natural-hazard risk, led by earthquakes
Of the losses FEMA expects in Maple Heights-Lake Desire, 53% come from earthquakes and 45% from inland flooding. On expected storm and flood damage, Maple Heights-Lake Desire sits above just over three quarters of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect four seasons and pleasant summers in Maple Heights-Lake Desire
July afternoons average 76°, cooler than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 35°.
About 6 inches of snow falls in a winter. A typical year brings Maple Heights-Lake Desire about 47 inches of rain and snow.
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | Typical Washington town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 76°F | 77°F | 85°F |
| January low | 35°F | 35°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Maple Heights-Lake Desire stands out in Washington and nationally: the median rent there is higher
At 7.6 years of the Seattle metro’s $115K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 81% of Washington towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $7,644, against $4,556 across Washington, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
For households in Maple Heights-Lake Desire, the share who own their home is 91%.
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | Typical Washington town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $3,130 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 91% | 70% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Maple Heights-Lake Desire
Space Needle and 137 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Maple Heights-Lake Desire. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi LookoutSpace Needle
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaLumen Field
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaClimate Pledge Arena
15 mi Stadium & arenaT-Mobile Park
16 mi Ancient siteSeattle Underground
17 mi Stadium & arenaHusky StadiumPhoto credits
Space Needle: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lumen Field: "Smart Destinations", GoSeattleCard.com, and Go Seattle Card Blog, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Climate Pledge Arena: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · T-Mobile Park: MyName (Cacophony), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Seattle Underground: Mark Hursh, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Husky Stadium: Atomic Taco, CC BY-SA 2.0
Moving to Maple Heights-Lake Desire: who provides what
Maple Heights-Lake Desire is unincorporated, so King County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
16 miles of trails in Maple Heights-Lake Desire
18.3% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Maple Heights-Lake Desire
About 6 of every 100 Maple Heights-Lake Desire residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Washington.
About Maple Heights-Lake Desire
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Maple Heights-Lake Desire is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,873. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Maple Heights-Lake Desire ranks 28th of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 656 ft
- Area code
- 206
Maple Heights-Lake Desire’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Maple Heights-Lake Desire.
| Town | WA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maple Heights-Lake Desire | #124 | B− | D− | — | B+ | A+ |
| Fairwood | #127 | B− | D | — | B− | A |
| Renton | #193 | C | D | D | C+ | A |
Maple Heights-Lake Desire and Fairwood report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Maple Heights-Lake Desire with a neighbor →
Questions about Maple Heights-Lake Desire
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Maple Heights-Lake Desire, WA a good place to live?
Maple Heights-Lake Desire grades B− overall, better than 51% of U.S. towns and #124 of 285 in Washington. It grades A+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Maple Heights-Lake Desire, WA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $876,000, 49% above the Washington typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
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