Best Places97131, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 97131, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
97131 ranks 22,806th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 97131
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
97131's strengths and weaknesses
Where 97131 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of zip codes
Where 97131 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 97131
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 97131 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,796, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 97131's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 97131
97131 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 97131.
Who works in 97131, and how
Work in 97131 centers on real estate and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 97131
The coast is about 8 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 97131, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 97131, month by month
97131 sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 44° | 38° |
| April | 58° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 70° | 60° | 52° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 97131
Portland International sits about 63 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 97131
Schools across 97131 average a C, better than 39% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Nehalem Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Pacific Ridge Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neah-kah-nie Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Seaside Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Neah-kah-nie High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Seaside High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 97131 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
97131 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 97131 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 97131
Is 97131 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 97131 ranks 22,806th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 97131 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $514,186. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $64,796 median income, cost of living beats 21% of zip codes.
Is 97131 safe?
97131 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $377 per resident a year.
Compare 97131 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 97131. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 97131 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
97131 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 97131: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 97131: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 97131: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 97131: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
97131 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.