Best PlacesArch Cape, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arch Cape, 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.
Arch Cape ranks 37,738th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Arch Cape
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.
Arch Cape's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arch Cape ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 108 pleasant days a year, better than 73% of towns
Where Arch Cape ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arch Cape
A household needs to earn about $184,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arch Cape home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,630, 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 Arch Cape's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Arch Cape
Arch Cape 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 Arch Cape.
Who works in Arch Cape, and how
Work in Arch Cape centers on public administration and real estate. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Arch Cape
The coast is about 4 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Arch Cape, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Arch Cape, month by month
Arch Cape sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 44° | 37° |
| April | 59° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 70° | 61° | 53° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Arch Cape
Portland International sits about 66 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 Arch Cape
Schools across Arch Cape average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
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 Arch Cape school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arch Cape 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 Arch Cape against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arch Cape
Is Arch Cape a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arch Cape ranks 37,738th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arch Cape expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $719,632. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $69,630 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Arch Cape safe?
Arch Cape is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $632 per resident a year.
Compare Arch Cape with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arch Cape. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arch Cape 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.
Arch Cape detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arch Cape: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arch Cape: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arch Cape: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arch Cape: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arch Cape 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.