Best PlacesClackamas, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clackamas, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clackamas ranks 9,734th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clackamas
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.
Clackamas' strengths and weaknesses
Where Clackamas ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
Where Clackamas ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,525 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clackamas
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clackamas home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,264, 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 Clackamas' effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Clackamas
Clackamas's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clackamas.
Who works in Clackamas, and how
Work in Clackamas centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Clackamas
Clackamas has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of towns and more parkland per resident than 83% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clackamas and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Clackamas, month by month
Clackamas sees roughly 108 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 Clackamas
Portland International sits about 12 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 Clackamas
Schools across Clackamas average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Scouters Mountain ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Oregon Trail Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Cascade Heights Public Charter SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Happy Valley Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Rock Creek Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Alder Creek Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Clackamas High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Estacada High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- New Urban High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clackamas school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clackamas 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 Clackamas against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Clackamas suits
Families
Schools land around the 18th percentile and crime safety beats 66%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Clackamas
Is Clackamas a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clackamas ranks 9,734th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and state infrastructure, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clackamas expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $518,900. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $93,264 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Clackamas safe?
Yes, Clackamas is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $386 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clackamas?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 37. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of towns.
Is Clackamas good for families?
Schools beat 18% of towns, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $1,525 a month.
Compare Clackamas with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clackamas. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clackamas 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.
Clackamas detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clackamas: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clackamas: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clackamas: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clackamas: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clackamas 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.