Best Places97480, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 97480, 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.
97480 ranks 32,265th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 97480
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.
97480's strengths and weaknesses
Where 97480 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 69% of zip codes
Where 97480 ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 97480
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 97480 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $50,210, 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 97480's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 97480
97480 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 97480.
Who works in 97480, and how
Work in 97480 centers on hospitality & food and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 97480
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across 97480, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 97480, month by month
97480 sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 97480
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around 97480
Schools across 97480 average a C, better than 37% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Siuslaw Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Siuslaw Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Siuslaw High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 97480 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
97480 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 97480 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 97480
Is 97480 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 97480 ranks 32,265th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 97480 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $302,960. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $50,210 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 97480 safe?
97480 is safer than 18% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $598 per resident a year.
Compare 97480 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 97480. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 97480 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.
97480 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 97480: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 97480: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 97480: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 97480: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
97480 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.