Best PlacesBarlow, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Barlow, 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.
Barlow ranks 36,823rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Barlow
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.
Barlow's strengths and weaknesses
Where Barlow ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
Where Barlow ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,525 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
Who lives in Barlow
Barlow's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Barlow.
Who works in Barlow, and how
Work in Barlow centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Barlow
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Barlow.
What the weather is like in Barlow, month by month
Barlow sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 55° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Barlow
Portland International sits about 24 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 Barlow
Schools across Barlow average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cecile Trost Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Baker Prairie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Canby High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Barlow school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Barlow 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 Barlow against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Barlow
Is Barlow a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Barlow ranks 36,823rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Barlow safe?
Barlow is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $481 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Barlow?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 35. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 76% of towns.
Compare Barlow with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Barlow. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Barlow 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.
Barlow detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Barlow: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Barlow: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Barlow: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Barlow: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Barlow 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.
- 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.