// Two counties · riverfront downtown
Bothell
A riverfront town on the King and Snohomish county line, where an old downtown rebuilt itself into something worth visiting.
Bothell is the town on the Sammamish River where the county line runs right through the middle of things. It is an old logging and shingle-mill settlement that spent the last decade rebuilding its downtown, and the result is one of the more interesting places to live in the north metro: a genuinely walkable riverfront core, a celebrated redevelopment around McMenamins Anderson School, trails that connect to Seattle and Redmond, and a position between the Eastside’s tech economy and the rest of Snohomish County. This guide covers Bothell’s neighborhoods, parks and the Sammamish River Trail, downtown, schools, commutes, and the real estate picture for anyone considering a move here.
Downtown Bothell
Main Street at Bothell Way NE, Bothell, WA
Population
About 52,000 people (OFM estimate, April 2026: 52,010; 2020 Census: 48,161), a city that straddles the King and Snohomish county line
Typical commute
About 20 to 25 minutes off-peak to Seattle on SR 522; 15 to 20 to Bellevue on I-405; peak traffic runs far longer
Schools
Northshore School District serves the city, with Bothell High, North Creek High, and Inglemoor High; UW Bothell and Cascadia College share a campus here
Where it sits
ZIPs 98011, 98012, and 98021, at the junction of I-405 and SR 522 on the county line
// The honest trade-offs
Relocating to Bothell: The Quick View
Bothell gives you a real downtown, real trails, and a location that works for both Seattle and the Eastside, and it asks for a higher price of entry than most of Snohomish County to get in. The two-county split also means your address determines some of the details. Here is the quick view, straight, so you can decide whether it fits.
Why people move here
A downtown that actually rebuilt itself
Main Street, the old riverfront core, got a real redevelopment over the last decade: wider sidewalks, new restaurants and shops, and McMenamins Anderson School, a 1931 junior high turned into a hotel, brewery, movie theater, and gathering place. You can walk from the river to dinner, a show, and a staycation without getting in a car.
The trails run right through town
The Sammamish River Trail passes through Bothell and connects south to Marymoor Park and Redmond, and the North Creek Trail heads north toward Mill Creek and Everett. At Blyth Park the trail meets the Burke-Gilman, so you can ride a bike most of the way to Seattle.
A sweet spot between Seattle and the Eastside
Bothell sits where SR 522 and I-405 come together, so Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond are all genuinely reachable, and Sound Transit express buses run from here into downtown Seattle and Bellevue. UW Bothell and Cascadia College anchor the north end of town.
Two counties, one small-town feel
Bothell straddles the King and Snohomish county line and keeps a downtown you can cross on foot. You get the Northshore schools, a riverfront core, and established neighborhoods from downtown condos to the large lots on Norway Hill, with the Eastside economy right next door.
The honest trade-offs
Peak-hour traffic is the trade-off
SR 522 and I-405 move you when they move, and at rush hour the drive to Seattle, Bellevue, or Redmond can stretch well past an hour. The express buses help, but the roads are the roads.
The price of entry is steep
Bothell’s median sale price sits around $1.0 million, well above most of Snohomish County, and newer and hillside homes run higher. You are paying for the location, the walkable downtown, and the Eastside access, and that is a real number.
Most of town is still car-dependent
Downtown and the trail corridors are wonderfully walkable, but big stretches, from Canyon Park to Maywood Hills, are classic suburban streets where you drive for most errands.
Two counties means two sets of rules
Because the city spans King and Snohomish counties, property tax rates, school boundaries, and even some services can differ from one street to the next. Your address matters, and it pays to check the details for the specific lot.
// Where you would actually live
Neighborhoods and their character
Bothell is really a set of distinct pockets stitched together by the river and the county line. A walkable riverfront core, classic hillside rambler streets, a tech-hub corridor, and large-lot hillsides all sit inside one city, each with its own housing, its own schools, and its own price range. Buyers here pick a neighborhood first, and that decision shapes everything else.
Historic downtown and the riverfront
The walkable core along Main Street and the Sammamish River: Bothell Landing and its restored 1890s buildings, McMenamins Anderson School, and a growing mix of condos, shops, restaurants, and breweries. The trails run along the water, and the redevelopment has turned this district into the town’s living room.
Maywood Hills and Beckstrom Hill
Classic Bothell: hillside neighborhoods above downtown with 1950s and 1960s ramblers, mature trees, large lots, and quiet streets. This is the city’s established residential character, a short downhill walk or drive to the riverfront.
Canyon Park and North Creek
The tech and commercial hub where I-405 meets SR 527: glass office buildings, biotech and engineering employers, big-box retail, and newer homes carrying some of Bothell’s highest prices. North Creek Forest and the North Creek Trail sit close by, and UW Bothell and Cascadia are just up the hill.
Norway Hill and southeast Bothell
A hilly, semi-rural-feeling pocket south of downtown with large lots, custom homes, and peek-a-boo views toward Lake Washington and the Cascades. Along with Queensgate on the Woodinville edge, this is where buyers chase space, privacy, and green.
// The commute, honestly
Commuting from Bothell: the honest picture
Bothell sits at the junction of SR 522 and I-405, so Seattle and the Eastside are both genuinely reachable, with peak-hour traffic as the trade-off. The ranges below are approximate weekday figures that swing with departure time, weather, and incidents, so treat them as planning numbers, not promises.
| Destination | Main route | Off-peak | Rush hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | SR 522 west to I-5 or Lake City Way | About 20 to 25 minutes | Often 45 minutes to over an hour |
| Bellevue | I-405 south | About 15 to 20 minutes | About 30 to 50 minutes at peak |
| Redmond / Eastside tech | I-405 to SR 520 or NE 116th Street | About 25 to 30 minutes | About 40 to 60 minutes at peak |
| Everett / Boeing / Paine Field | SR 527 north to I-5, or I-405 to SR 526 | About 25 to 35 minutes to Everett; 30 to 40 to Boeing and the airport | Longer on the I-405 and SR 527 corridors at peak |
Approximate drive ranges for planning only; check current conditions before you commit to a routine. WSDOT travel map
Express buses
Sound Transit Express 522 runs to downtown Seattle and Express 535 to Bellevue, and King County Metro Route 931 links to Redmond. A Bothell transit hub is planned at the I-405 and SR 522 interchange, and a park-and-ride anchors the corridor.
Sound TransitStride BRT (in the works)
Sound Transit's Stride bus rapid transit is under construction on I-405, with stations planned at Canyon Park and the Bothell-Woodinville Transit Center. Service is expected around 2029, and it will replace Express 535 on the Lynnwood-to-Bellevue corridor, giving Bothell a much faster I-405 option.
Stride statusLink light rail
The closest Link light rail stations, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood City Center, opened in August 2024 and sit about 10 to 15 minutes north on I-405. They put downtown Seattle about 30 minutes away by train, with trains running every few minutes at peak.
Link 1 Line// The river, the trails, and the woods
Parks and outdoor access
Bothell’s outdoor life is built on two things: the Sammamish River and the trails that run beside it. The riverfront park system, a 40-acre riverside park, a long paved trail to Redmond, and a protected urban forest are all within a short ride of downtown. Residents use the water and the paths constantly, and it shapes how the town feels.
Park at Bothell Landing
The crown of Bothell’s park system: about 14 acres on the Sammamish River with restored pioneer buildings, including the 1893 Hannan House, now the Bothell Historical Museum, plus a playground, an amphitheater, a hand-carried boat launch, and direct access to the river trail.
Sammamish River Trail
A paved trail running roughly 10 miles along the river from Bothell to Marymoor Park in Redmond, past farms and wetlands. It meets the Burke-Gilman Trail at Blyth Park, so a bike ride from Bothell can carry you toward Seattle or down to the Eastside.
Blyth Park
A 40-acre riverside park on the banks of the Sammamish, where the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River trails meet. Playgrounds, a volleyball court, disc golf, and picnic shelters with grills, all connected to downtown by trail.
North Creek Trail and North Creek Forest
A paved, roughly 10-mile trail linking Bothell north toward Mill Creek and the McCollum Park area through a wooded, wetland corridor. Along the way sits North Creek Forest, one of the region’s significant protected urban woods.
City of Bothell parks Snohomish County parks King County parks
// Main Street and the riverfront
Downtown: an old main street that rebuilt itself
Bothell got its start in the 1880s as a logging and shingle-mill settlement on the Sammamish River, and the town was platted in 1889 by David Bothell, who the settlement is named for. It incorporated in 1909, and for the next century the compact core at Main Street and Bothell Way grew slowly, an old main street beside a working river where logs were floated downstream toward Lake Washington and Seattle.
Then came the redevelopment. The centerpiece is McMenamins Anderson School, a 1931 Art Deco junior high that the city bought after the school district closed it, and that reopened in 2015 as a hotel with 72 guestrooms in former classrooms, plus restaurants, a brewery, a movie theater, and a heated saltwater pool. Around the same time, the Main Street Enhancement Project, a $7.5 million rebuild through 2017 and 2018, widened sidewalks and remade the street. The result is a genuinely walkable downtown: restaurants and breweries on Main Street, the river and Bothell Landing right behind them, and a steady calendar of events.
Local spots to know
- McMenamins Anderson School Hotel, brewery, restaurants, and theater in a 1931 school on Bothell Way NE
- The Bine Beer & Food Beer hall and kitchen on Main Street
- The Bison Farm-to-table restaurant on Main Street
- Beardslee Public House Tavern and kitchen on Beardslee Boulevard
- The Hop and Hound Casual pub near the riverfront on 101st Avenue NE
- Caffe Ladro Coffee roaster and cafe on Bothell Way NE
- Alexa’s Cafe & Catering Long-running neighborhood cafe on Main Street
- Daily Grind Bothell Coffee shop on Bothell Way NE
// How the city works day to day
Local info: schools, events, and getting around
Schools
The Northshore School District serves Bothell, with Bothell High and North Creek High inside the city and Inglemoor High nearby in Kenmore, all part of the same district. Because the city straddles two counties, a few addresses can sit near other boundary lines, so school attendance is very much an address-by-address question here. UW Bothell and Cascadia College share a campus in the northeast part of the city, and the community colleges of Everett and Edmonds are about 20 to 30 minutes away.
Commutes
Bothell sits at the junction of SR 522 and I-405. Off-peak, downtown Seattle is about 20 to 25 minutes by car, Bellevue about 15 to 20, and Redmond roughly 25 to 30. At rush hour those roads back up badly, and the same trips can stretch past an hour. Sound Transit Express 522 runs to downtown Seattle and Express 535 to Bellevue, King County Metro Route 931 links to Redmond, and a Bothell transit hub is planned at the I-405 and SR 522 interchange.
Community character
Bothell is one of the region’s true two-county towns: the King and Snohomish county line runs through it, shaping everything from property tax rates to school boundaries street by street. UW Bothell and Cascadia College share a campus in the northeast part of the city, and the restored wetland created there is among the largest on the West Coast. The Sammamish River has always been the spine of the place, and the two-county character is part of why Bothell feels a little different.
Mark the calendar
Bothell 4th of July Hometown Celebration
The city’s annual July 4 celebration in downtown: a free pancake breakfast hosted by the fire department, a children’s parade, and the big grand parade through the heart of town.
Bothell Block Party and Brewfest
A downtown summer beer festival with roughly 20 breweries, cideries, and a seltzer maker, plus food trucks and live music in the redeveloped core.
McMenamins Anderson School events
Concerts, films, and community events run year-round at the complex, from the former gymnasium, now Haynes’ Hall, to the outdoor courtyard in summer.
// Prices and what to check before you buy
Buying in Bothell: the price picture and the property checks
Bothell is one of the pricier markets Curt works, and the numbers reflect it. NWMLS's 2025 Housing Hotspots data put the median sale price in the 98012 ZIP (Bothell and Mill Creek) at about $975,000 across more than 900 sales, while the countywide median was about $720,000 in the NWMLS September 2026 snapshot. West Bothell tends to run below that, while North Creek, Norway Hill, and Canyon Park newer builds run above $1 million. Condos and townhomes near downtown are the more accessible entry point. Requirements vary by property and by the exact address, so treat the list below as a starting point, not an answer for a specific lot.
City median home value
$1,015,871
Zillow Home Values, July 2026
City medians are a monthly snapshot, refreshed monthly, and they differ from the countywide NWMLS median.
Floodplain along the river
The Sammamish River corridor through Bothell is a regulated shoreline with mapped 100-year flood hazard areas. New construction and major work near the river must meet the city's flood-protection elevation, one foot above the base flood elevation, and no-rise rules. Most of the city sits well above the floodplain, but check the FEMA map for riverfront and low-lying addresses.
City flood codeADUs & DADUs
Bothell follows state law and allows up to two accessory dwelling units on many lots, with a 1,200-square- foot maximum and no owner-occupancy requirement. Rules near the floodplain, wetlands, or critical areas add requirements, so confirm the current code with the city before you plan.
ADU codeTwo counties, two sets of rules
The city spans King and Snohomish counties, so property tax rates, school boundaries, and some services differ from one street to the next. Confirm the county, the tax rate, and the school assignment for the specific lot. Your address determines the details.
Wetlands & critical areas
The North Creek corridor and the restored wetland at the UW Bothell campus mean critical-area buffers are common in the northeast. Development near wetlands and streams faces review, so a site-specific check matters on lots close to the creek or the open spaces.
Seismic & older stock
The region is in the Puget Sound seismic zone, and many Bothell homes are mid-century ramblers on hillside lots. Budget for an inspection that covers foundation, drainage, and any previous remodel work, and ask about seismic retrofit history on older homes.
Ask about the specific lot
Flood, wetland, ADU, and county rules all come down to the exact parcel. Curt runs these checks for every buyer and can tell you what applies to a property before you spend money on it.
Ask Curt about a property// The honest trade-offs, city to city
How Bothell compares to its neighbors
Bothell's honest comparisons run against the planned communities, the south county corridor, and the Eastside-adjacent towns around it. Straight reads, no marketing.
vs. Mill Creek
Mill Creek is the planned, polished community with the golf course, a strong town center, and its own school district. Bothell has the genuine riverfront downtown, the trails, and the two-county tech corridor. Bothell reaches Seattle and the Eastside more directly; Mill Creek sits closer to Everett and is more purely residential.
Read the Mill Creek guidevs. Lynnwood & Mountlake Terrace
Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace are the retail and transit hubs of the south county, with Link light rail at their stations and more condos and urban convenience. Bothell keeps the riverfront downtown and the university campus, at a higher price per square foot. Pick the corridor towns for transit and value; pick Bothell for the downtown, the trails, and the location between two job markets.
vs. Kenmore & Woodinville
Kenmore is the smaller lakefront neighbor on the west, and Woodinville is the wine-country town to the east with rural edges and its own school district. Bothell has the bigger downtown and the university campus. Buyers choosing Kenmore or Woodinville are usually after a specific Eastside school district or a quieter, more rural feel, and they accept a longer drive to Bothell's amenities.
South county overview// Day-to-day life
Everyday life in Bothell
Shopping & dining
Main Street holds the restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops, McMenamins Anderson School anchors the evening scene, and the farmers market runs through summer. Everyday shopping sits at Canyon Park and along the major arterials, with groceries around town and bigger runs to Lynnwood or the Eastside.
City of BothellHealthcare
Clinics and urgent care sit in Bothell, and the closest major hospitals are EvergreenHealth in Kirkland and UW Medicine, both about 15 to 20 minutes away. Everett's regional hospitals and Swedish Edmonds are within a reasonable drive for more complex care.
Library & community
The Bothell Library (King County Library System) serves the city, and the calendar fills with the 4th of July hometown celebration, the Block Party and Brewfest, and concerts and films at McMenamins Anderson School.
KCLS libraries// Bothell relocation FAQ
Questions people ask about Bothell
These are the Bothell-specific questions Curt hears from buyers weighing a move. The county-wide questions, on rates, equity, and selling first, live on the main FAQ page.
01 Which county am I in, and does it matter?
Bothell straddles the King and Snohomish county line, so the answer depends on your exact address. The county determines property tax rates, some permitting, and which library system and services you use. Ask for the county and the school assignment for the specific lot before you buy; it is part of why Bothell pricing varies from street to street.
02 How bad is the commute really?
Off-peak it is one of the best-located towns in the area: downtown Seattle in about 20 to 25 minutes, Bellevue in 15 to 20, Redmond in 25 to 30. At peak, SR 522 and I-405 back up and those trips can double or more. The express buses help, and the future Stride bus rapid transit on I-405, with a station planned at Canyon Park, should improve the corridor around 2029.
03 Can I add an ADU or DADU on my lot?
Generally yes. Bothell follows state law and allows up to two accessory dwelling units on many lots, with a 1,200-square-foot maximum and no owner-occupancy requirement. Rules near the river floodplain, wetlands, or critical areas add requirements, so confirm the current code with the city before you plan.
04 Does Bothell work for commuting to the big Eastside tech employers?
Bothell sits between Seattle and the Eastside, so Bellevue and Redmond are genuinely reachable, and Canyon Park has its own biotech and engineering employers plus the UW Bothell and Cascadia campus. It is one of the few towns in the county that works for both Seattle and Eastside commutes, with the traffic trade-offs at peak.
05 What is the flood situation near the river?
The Sammamish River corridor through Bothell is a regulated shoreline with mapped 100-year flood hazard areas, and new work near the river must meet the city's flood-protection elevation and no-rise rules. Most of the city sits well above the floodplain, but check the FEMA map for any riverfront or low-lying address before you commit.
Still deciding?
Curt has sold all over Snohomish County since 2003 and knows Bothell by street. Ask him your specific question, free and pressure-free.
// A premium market with a clear reason
The Bothell market, in plain numbers
Bothell is one of the higher-priced markets Curt works, and the numbers reflect it. 2026 market data put the city’s median sale price around $1.0 million, with most homes selling in roughly two to three weeks and typically drawing two or so offers. Prices have softened year over year, but Bothell still runs well above the Snohomish County median, because buyers are paying for the location between Seattle and the Eastside, the Northshore schools, and the walkable downtown.
Where you buy changes the number. West Bothell runs closer to the high $900,000s, while northeast Bothell, North Creek, and Norway Hill commonly carry newer and hillside homes above $1.1 million. Condos and townhomes near downtown stay the most affordable entry point, and they also move a touch slower, giving buyers more time. The split reflects housing type and lot more than quality, so it pays to look at the neighborhood rather than the whole city.
Curt has sold real estate across Snohomish County since 2003 and knows Bothell by street: which neighborhood fits which buyer, how the Northshore schools and transit access move demand, and how to position a listing against the newer inventory in Canyon Park and North Creek. His construction background matters here too, because Bothell’s mix of classic ramblers and newer builds comes with real questions about what is worth updating and what to leave alone.
Bothell sits in ZIPs 98011, 98012, and 98021 on the King and Snohomish county line, at the junction of SR 522 and I-405. Ask Curt about downtown condos, Maywood Hills ramblers, Norway Hill view lots, or move-up homes in Canyon Park and North Creek.
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