Education Hill is a neighborhood in Redmond, Washington with good schools and ample job opportunities. Here's what buying a home is like.
The Education Hill neighborhood in Redmond, Washington is one of the most desirable places to live in the greater Seattle metro area.
With K-12 schools within walking distance (hence the neighborhood’s name), robust employment, and recreation opportunities close by, it’s no wonder people want to live here.
Without further ado, let’s dive into what it’s like to live in Education Hill and everything it has to offer.
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Where is Education Hill exactly?
Employment opportunities
Schools
Housing options
How to buy a home
Recreation
Entertainment
Climate
Growth
Education Hill is a community in Redmond, Washington, a city most known for being the home of Microsoft headquarters.
The Education Hill neighborhood is one mile north of downtown Redmond and around 5 miles north of the Microsoft campus.
Bellevue, Washington, another major employment hub, is located about 10 miles away and downtown Seattle is 30-45 minutes away. Air travelers can get to and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in about 45 minutes.
Education Hill is part of the greater Eastside which is the area to the east of Lake Washington from Seattle.
In all, Redmond is one of the highly sought-after eastside suburbs of Seattle, and Education Hill is one of the top neighborhoods within Redmond.
Perhaps the most desirable thing about Education Hill is its proximity to well-paying high-tech jobs.
Microsoft is the most obvious example, employing over 50,000 people at its Redmond headquarters. Microsoft is also in the middle of a multi-billion dollar expansion in which it will add 2.5 million square feet as well as modern amenities and even sports fields.
Nintendo HQ is located close by too, right next to the Microsoft campus.
Amazon is well known for its presence in Seattle, but most of its future expansion will happen in Bellevue, about a 15-minute drive from Education Hill. The e-commerce giant plans to add 25,000 employees in downtown Bellevue in coming years.
Google has major operations in Kirkland, Redmond’s neighboring city. The new “Kirkland Urban” campus recently opened, part of an eventual 4-building complex with 760,000 square feet of office space.
Perhaps lesser known but closeby employers are SpaceX and Meta. SpaceX is located about 10 minutes to the east in a newly-developed suburban area of Redmond called Redmond Ridge.
“Building X” will be the new home of Reality Labs, where Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, plans to develop its metaverse virtual reality hardware. The campus is currently under construction in the Willows office park area and is within biking distance from Education Hill.
As the name suggests, there are many schools located in the Education Hill neighborhood. In fact, that’s one of the major draws. From kindergarten to 12th grade, students don’t have to go far.
Here’s a list of Education Hill schools.
Elementary Schools (K-5)
Middle School (6th - 8th)
High School (9th-12th)
There are also many private schools close to Education Hill such as the Bear Creek School, Eastside Catholic, Willow Preparatory School, Chrysalis High School and others.
Public schools are located within the Lake Washington School District, the second largest district in Washington and have an 18:1 student-teacher ratio and an 89% graduation rate according to US News.
Most Education Hill housing consists of single-family residences built in the 1960s-1980s. There are a few newer subdivisions scattered throughout Education Hill as developers have found plots of land to place a few homes on.
Overall, there is not much buildable land left in the area, leading to tight home supply.
As mentioned, most homes are older and have been remodeled, added onto, or in a few cases, torn down to build modern homes on the lot.
Nearby downtown Redmond is seeing many new, high-end apartment complexes go up due to the limited supply of other types of housing in the area, yet high demand.
Living in Education Hill itself could be a challenge for those looking to either buy or rent one of the few available homes.
As you might guess, the housing market is very competitive in Education Hill.
According to Redfin, home prices in the neighborhood were up 37.5% in the past year as of March 2022. The median price for all home types was $1.3 million and $1.6 million for single-family homes. Redfin also states that homes typically sell after only 4 days on the market.
Part of the reason for the high prices and demand, besides being a desirable area, is that there is very little if any more land to build in the neighborhood. Sales almost completely consist of existing home sales, which requires an owner to sell and doesn’t happen very often.
At the time of this writing, there were only 8 single-family homes for sale in the neighborhood, and only 18 sold in the previous year.
To make a competitive offer, buyers should follow the same best practices as in any desirable market:
It’s no easy task to buy a home in Education Hill, but the rewards of living there could be well worth it.
There’s no shortage of things to do near Education Hill, Redmond. From parks to trails to local events, you’ll find that Education Hill has something for everyone.
One of the most attractive features of Education Hill is its parks. Nike Park sits atop a hill and features a flat, open grassy area, wooded trails, a playground, basketball courts and pickleball courts. Hartman Park offers a turf multi-purpose field, basketball, and wooded trails.
Smaller parks include Meadow Park, which contains more basketball hoops and pickleball courts and a playground, and Reservoir Park offers tennis courts. Speaking of tennis, Redmond Middle School and Redmond High School offer multiple tennis courts that are open to the public when not in school use.
One of the more unique parks is the Redmond Bike Park, which offers challenging bike tracks for all skill levels.
Nearby Perrigo park offers multiple turf fields for soccer and cricket, as well as other sports.
Just south of Education Hill is Marymoor Park, perhaps one of the most impressive parks in the state or even the entire U.S. It’s a massive 640-acre park featuring cricket, baseball, and soccer fields, a remote control airplane area, a 35-foot rock-climbing structure, a huge off-leash dog park, a concert venue, and the state’s only velodrome (bike racing track).
If you love walking, running, and biking, you’ll love the trail system in and around Education Hill. The Powerline trail cuts through the middle of Education Hill and connects to other trail systems east and west of the neighborhood. On Education Hill’s east side lies the Sammamish River trail, a 10-mile paved trail that runs through Woodinville Wine Country and eventually connects to Seattle’s Burke-Gilman trail. In all, more than 50 miles of trails are accessible by foot or bike from Education Hill.
Just west of Education Hill is the Willows Run Golf Complex, a series of courses totaling 45 holes including an 18-hole mini-golf course.
Community events are in no shortage either. As mentioned, Marymoor Park contains a concert venue that features major artists from late spring to fall. The city hosts dozens of events throughout the year including a Festival of Color, a vegetarian festival, drive-in movies, and its unique Derby Days, a tradition that started in 1940 with a simple bike derby, which has expanded to a city-wide extravaganza featuring music, parades, carnival rides, food and beer booths, a wine garden and more.
Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy proximity to the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, both of which provide spectacular views on clear days. Skiing is popular during the winter and spring, and hiking and biking during the summer and fall. The closest skiing is about an hour away at Snoqualmie Pass. There are other popular ski areas within a few hours driving. Going west, the Pacific ocean is around 3-4 hours away, and many popular yet rural ocean towns dot the coastline. Go a few hours east, and you’re in desert and rural farmland.
Two hours north is Vancouver, B.C., Canada, for those who would like to visit another country without going too far.
Education Hill is truly central to nearly every terrain imaginable as well as many different climates. It is difficult to imagine exhausting everything there is to do and see within a few hours of the neighborhood.
While Redmond is no Seattle when it comes to nightlife, culture, and entertainment, it has expanded its offerings in these areas in recent years.
There’s not much open after 10 P.M. as this Quora user notes. Those looking for clubs, bars, and the like will need to make the trip to Seattle.
Still, downtown Redmond features a growing scene of eateries that cater to singles as well as families. There’s everything from the aged Redmond’s Bar and Grill whose building dates back to 1903, all the way to the pristine-if-a-bit-hoity-toity Woodblock, housed on the first floor of one of the many modern apartment buildings being built in the downtown core.
Redmond Town Center, a 2-minute drive from Education Hill, has become a hub for shopping and gathering. The outdoor mall features smaller high-end shops as well as some standards like Starbucks and Old Pancake House, a local favorite.
There are even a few breweries in Redmond. Black Raven Brewing Co. offers a place to gather and enjoy craft beer. If wine is your thing, you’re in luck. Five minutes north of Education Hill is world-famous Woodinville Wine Country, where over 130 wineries will let you sample (and buy) their offerings to your heart’s content. For an even greater adventure, use the Sammamish River Trail to bike to the district on a warm summer night.
Education Hill has a similar climate as Seattle. There are 155 sunny days per year, says bestplaces.net. There is precipitation around 162 days per year. That may sound like a lot, but the good news is that the climate is mild and lends itself to year-round outdoor activity, as long as you don’t mind getting rained on once in a while.
The average July high temperature is a comfortable 75.9 degrees Fahrenheit, says Best Places, compared to a U.S. average of 85.8. Average January nighttime temps are around 36 degrees vs a U.S. average of around 21. It’s rarely too hot or too cold for very long in Education Hill.
As mentioned, there’s not a lot of room for Education Hill to grow population-wise, as there are not many areas left to build. However, the Redmond region is looking to grow significantly in coming years as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and other large employers seek to increase their presence in the region.
One of the most obvious signs of that growth is a new light rail system under construction. It’s projected that by 2024, light rail will connect downtown Redmond with Microsoft, Bellevue, Seattle, and Sea-Tac Airport. In the works since 2006, the train will soon allow Education Hill residents to board in closeby downtown Redmond and avoid traffic and parking when traveling to their job in south Redmond or Bellevue, a Seattle entertainment hotspot, or a flight out of Sea-Tac. The development has no doubt added to home values, and for homebuyers, made the competition for area housing even more competitive.
However, for those looking to rent, downtown Redmond has added many new, large apartment complexes, with more on the way. These could act as a landing spot to get a feel for the area while looking for a home to buy in Education Hill when the time is right.
Many people have decided to call Education Hill home and enjoy its many opportunities. The neighborhood is worth exploring, even if you’re considering many neighborhoods in the region.
