Neighborhoods near JBLM, by side of base

Joint Base Lewis-McChord is one installation with several very different front doors. Lewis Main and Lewis North run along I-5 near DuPont. McChord Field sits to the north and east, against Lakewood and Spanaway. Where you work on base should decide where you look. Below are the seven towns military families look at first, and what living in each is like.

Seven towns, by side of baseDrive any town at your commute hour before deciding

Gravel beach on Puget Sound under an overcast sky, with driftwood logs, a wooden bench, a small pier, and forested islands across calm gray water — Puget Sound

How to choose a town near JBLM

Start with where you’ll work on base, then the road you’ll drive, then the school district.

Which town is best depends first on which side of the base you’re reporting to. A home that’s an easy drive to McChord Field can be a slow one to Lewis North, and the reverse is just as true.

The I-5 corridor through the base

I-5 cuts straight through JBLM between Lakewood and DuPont, carrying Tacoma and Olympia through traffic alongside everyone going to work on post. WSDOT has done major work on the corridor in recent years, and it still slows hard at the busiest hours and whenever there’s a collision. The fewer miles of your commute that run on I-5, the less of your day it can take.

SR 512 and the east side

SR 512 runs east from I-5 in Lakewood through Parkland toward Puyallup. It’s the main connector for people living in Spanaway, Parkland, South Hill and Puyallup, and it has its own crowded stretches at rush hour. From Spanaway, some people skip it entirely and use local roads toward McChord Field.

Schools follow district lines

School districts don’t follow city limits. Lakewood is served mainly by Clover Park, DuPont and Steilacoom share the Steilacoom Historical School District, Spanaway is mostly Bethel, and University Place, Yelm and Puyallup each have their own. Always confirm the school assignment for a specific address with the district before you write an offer.

Summary for orientation only. Confirm school boundaries and commute times for any specific address.
Town	Side of base	County	Main school district
Lakewood	North, along I-5	Pierce	Clover Park
DuPont	Southwest, at Lewis North	Pierce	Steilacoom Historical
Spanaway	East of McChord Field	Pierce	Bethel
University Place	Northwest	Pierce	University Place
Steilacoom	West, on the Sound	Pierce	Steilacoom Historical
Yelm	South, past the training areas	Thurston	Yelm Community Schools
Puyallup	East, farther out on SR 512	Pierce	Puyallup

Lakewood

Side of base: North, bordering Lewis Main and McChord Field
Main roads: I-5, SR 512, Gravelly Lake Drive, Bridgeport Way
Schools: Clover Park School District
Housing: Ramblers, split-levels, lakefront, some newer infill

Lakewood is the city most people picture when they think of living off post. It wraps around the north side of the base, with several gates close by. It incorporated as a city in 1996, but most of its neighborhoods are much older than that.

The housing is mostly mid-century: single-story ramblers and split-levels on generous lots under tall Douglas firs, the kind of street you see in the photo below. Around American Lake, Gravelly Lake and Lake Steilacoom you’ll find waterfront and lake-access homes that are a different market altogether. Newer townhomes and infill houses are scattered through the city.

Tillicum, bordered by American Lake and the base, is about as close to a gate as you can live. Fort Steilacoom Park, with Waughop Lake and its walking loop, is on the west side of the city.

Older homes mean inspection and appraisal attention: roofs, crawlspaces, side sewers and pre-1978 paint are the usual subjects. None of that is unusual for a VA purchase. It just needs time in the plan.

Quiet cul-de-sac lined with tall Douglas firs and turning maples, fallen leaves on the pavement, and single-story brick and wood-sided ranch houses at the end of the street — Pierce County

DuPont

Side of base: Southwest, beside Lewis North
Main roads: I-5, Center Drive, DuPont-Steilacoom Road
Schools: Steilacoom Historical School District
Housing: Planned neighborhoods, mostly built since the 1990s

DuPont is a small, planned city on the Sound side of I-5, and for anyone assigned to Lewis North it’s hard to beat on commute. It began as a company town for the DuPont explosives plant; the historic village of worker houses still stands, and most of the rest of the city is the planned community built on the old plant land from the 1990s onward.

Expect two-story homes on modest lots, sidewalks, parks and trails, including the Sequalitchew Creek trail down to the shoreline.

DuPont also sits at the south end of the busy corridor, so a trip north toward Lakewood or Tacoma means joining I-5 traffic. The Nisqually delta lies just south of town.

Two-story craftsman house with cedar-shingle gables, tapered porch columns on stone bases, and an American flag on a porch bracket, with Mount Rainier on the horizon beyond neighboring rooftops in morning light — South Puget Sound

Spanaway

Side of base: East, just past McChord Field
Main roads: Pacific Avenue (SR 7), Spanaway Loop Road, SR 512
Schools: Mostly Bethel School District
Housing: Ramblers, manufactured homes, newer subdivisions, acreage

Spanaway is unincorporated Pierce County on the east side of McChord Field, and for Air Force families it’s often the first place to look. Lots tend to be bigger than in Lakewood, and the housing runs from older single-story homes to newer subdivisions to small acreage with room for a shop or a trailer.

Spanaway Lake Park is the local gathering spot. Pacific Avenue carries most of the shopping and traffic north toward Parkland and Tacoma.

Homes on larger lots may be on a well or septic system, and manufactured homes have their own VA rules on foundations and titling. Both are routine to handle with notice, and both are worth checking before you write an offer.

University Place

Side of base: Northwest, past Lakewood
Main roads: Bridgeport Way, Grandview Drive, SR 16 nearby
Schools: University Place School District
Housing: 1960s to 1990s homes, view lots, some townhomes and condos

University Place, which everyone calls UP, incorporated in 1995 and has its own school district, which is the reason many families look here. It sits northwest of Lakewood, a little farther from the gates, with established neighborhoods, a walkable town center along Bridgeport Way, and Chambers Bay, the public golf course and park built on an old gravel mine by the water that hosted the 2015 U.S. Open.

Homes here run from mid-century ramblers to larger houses from the 1980s and 1990s, some with views toward the Sound and the Olympics. Commutes to McChord Field and Lewis Main usually run down through Lakewood, and SR 16 and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge are close for anyone with reasons to be on the Kitsap side.

Steilacoom

Side of base: West, on Puget Sound
Main roads: Steilacoom Boulevard, DuPont-Steilacoom Road
Schools: Steilacoom Historical School District
Housing: Historic homes, small in-town houses, bluff view lots

Steilacoom, incorporated in 1854, is Washington’s oldest incorporated town, and it still feels like one: a short main street, historic houses, and Sunnyside Beach on the water. The Pierce County ferry to Anderson and Ketron islands leaves from here.

It’s a small town with a limited number of houses, so a Steilacoom search needs patience and a quick trigger. Older and historic homes deserve a careful inspection, and a VA appraisal will look closely at paint and systems in anything built before 1978.

The drive to Lewis North goes along DuPont-Steilacoom Road at the edge of the base, and McChord Field is reached through Lakewood.

Yelm

Side of base: South, beyond the training areas
Main roads: SR 510, SR 507, Yelm Highway
Schools: Yelm Community Schools
Housing: Newer subdivisions, acreage, wells and septic common

Yelm is across the Nisqually River in Thurston County, on open prairie south of the base with Mount Rainier filling the eastern sky on a clear day. People choose it for space: bigger lots, newer subdivisions, and small acreage with room for animals or a garden.

The trade is distance. Getting to work on base means SR 510 toward Lacey and then I-5 north through the Nisqually valley, or SR 507 north through Roy toward Spanaway, and both can be long at rush hour. Yelm also sits close to JBLM’s training areas, so artillery and training noise carry on some days.

Mount Rainier glowing pink at sunrise above a wide, flat prairie of golden grass and small wildflowers — South Sound prairie

Puyallup

Side of base: East, farther out along SR 512
Main roads: SR 512, SR 167, Meridian (SR 161)
Schools: Mostly Puyallup School District
Housing: Older homes downtown, large South Hill subdivisions, new construction

Puyallup is a full city with a lot of housing choices, home to the Washington State Fair and a Sounder station downtown. It’s farther from the gates than Lakewood or Spanaway, and the commute depends almost entirely on SR 512. Families often pick it when one spouse works on base and the other works toward Kent, Auburn or Seattle.

The older neighborhoods near downtown sit on the valley floor. South Hill, up Meridian, is newer and more suburban, with large subdivisions and shopping.

Tacoma and the rest of Pierce County

Some families look farther north into Tacoma, for an older house in a walkable neighborhood or a spouse’s job downtown, and accept a longer drive on I-5. Others look at Parkland, Graham, Roy or Lacey. The same method applies everywhere: start from where you’ll work on base, drive the route at the hour you’ll use it, and confirm the school district for the exact address.

If you tell me your unit’s location and what matters most to your family, I’ll narrow the list and set up tours, in person or on video. Call 206.940.0942 or send your dates.