Best Places97236, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 97236, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
97236 ranks 16,621st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 97236
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.
97236's strengths and weaknesses
Where 97236 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of zip codes
Where 97236 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,741 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 97236
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 97236 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,765, 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 97236's effective rate of 1.02%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 97236
97236 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 97236.
Who works in 97236, and how
Work in 97236 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 97236
97236 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 97236 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 97236, month by month
97236 sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 37° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 97236
Portland International sits about 8 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 97236
Schools across 97236 average a C+, better than 65% of zip codes.
Top high schools
- Centennial High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 97236 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
97236 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 97236 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 97236 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 97236
Is 97236 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 97236 ranks 16,621st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 97236 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $421,760. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $75,765 median income, cost of living beats 29% of zip codes.
Is 97236 safe?
97236 is safer than 23% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $582 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 97236?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 37. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of zip codes.
Is 97236 good for families?
Schools beat 65% of zip codes, crime safety beats 23%, and childcare runs $1,741 a month.
Compare 97236 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 97236. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 97236 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.
97236 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 97236: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 97236: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 97236: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 97236: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
97236 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.