Consumer advocacy site NerdWallet released its best places in Washington state for young families list. The editors of the website examined public school rating, median home value, monthly homeownership costs, median household income and income growth. The results of our second annual study revealed that Kenmore ranked No. 8 and Bothell rank No. 11 respectively on the list. Kenmore received a GreatSchool rating of nine and a median home value of $397,900 in 2012.

Snoqualmie was ranked No. 1 on the list.

Seattle suburbs are hot

Beyond just the top 10 places on our list, 12 of the top 20 cities are in King County, where Seattle is the county seat.

Education is exceptionally strong. All but one of the top 10 cities has a GreatSchools rating of nine, and none in the top 20 had a ranking below seven. Perhaps the bigger picture, though, is that 56 of 82 places we surveyed in the state were rated at six or higher.

The outdoors are great. Many of the top cities have access to the state’s natural beauty — from the mountains to Puget Sound, which helps explain the high median home values in the area.