Best PlacesClark County, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clark County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clark County ranks 300th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $104,968, wages outrun the cost of living, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state infrastructure, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Clark County
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.
The best areas in Clark County
The parts of Clark County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Ridgefield & Salmon Creek
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Camas & Washougal
More adults hold degrees and more residents vote.
Brush Prairie, Yacolt & Venersborg
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Battle Ground
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Hazel Dell
Streets are more walkable, though schools score lower.
Walnut Grove, Five Corners & Orchards
Health care is harder to reach.
Vancouver
Clark County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Clark County's strengths and weaknesses
Clark County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. High incomes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and noise also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Clark County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$104,968 median, better than 94% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
Where Clark County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,375 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 13% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clark County
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clark County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $104,968, 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 Clark County's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Clark County
Clark County'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 Clark County.
Who works in Clark County, and how
Work in Clark County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Clark County
Clark County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of counties and more parkland per resident than 65% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clark County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clark County growing, and who is moving in?
Clark County has grown about 18% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Portland, OR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clark County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clark County, month by month
Clark County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Clark County
Portland International sits about 7 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
Clark County 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 Clark County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clark County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Clark County
Is Clark County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clark County ranks 300th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, high incomes, and big-city access, and lowest on childcare costs and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clark County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $539,902. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $104,968 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Clark County safe?
Yes, Clark County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $387 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clark County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 34. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clark County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ridgefield & Salmon Creek, Camas & Washougal, and Brush Prairie, Yacolt & Venersborg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Clark County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 77%, and childcare runs $1,375 a month.
Is Clark County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Clark County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clark County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clark County 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.
Clark County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clark County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clark County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clark County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clark County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clark County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.