Best PlacesClatsop County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clatsop County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clatsop County ranks 1,705th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clatsop 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 Clatsop County
The parts of Clatsop 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.
Seaside
More adults hold degrees, crime runs lower, and disaster risk is lower.
Warrenton
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Astoria
Biking is better, though it is noisier.
Scores across Clatsop County run from about the 10th to the 75th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clatsop County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clatsop County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of counties
- TransitBetter than 83% of counties
Where Clatsop County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap childcare$991 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 28% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clatsop County
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clatsop County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $75,150, 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 Clatsop County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 Clatsop County
Clatsop County 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 Clatsop County.
Who works in Clatsop County, and how
Work in Clatsop County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Clatsop County
Clatsop County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 98% of counties. The coast is about 5 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clatsop County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clatsop County growing, and who is moving in?
Clatsop County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clatsop County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clatsop County, month by month
Clatsop County sees roughly 111 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 Clatsop County
Portland International sits about 70 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 Clatsop County
Schools across Clatsop County average a C, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- The Cannon Beach AcademyD+ · 25% proficient
- Warrenton Grade SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Nehalem Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Neah-kah-nie Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Seaside Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Warrenton High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- 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 Clatsop County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clatsop 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 Clatsop County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clatsop County suits
Common questions about living in Clatsop County
Is Clatsop County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clatsop County ranks 1,705th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and biking, and lowest on disaster risk and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clatsop County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $494,034. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $75,150 median income, cost of living beats 28% of counties.
Is Clatsop County safe?
Clatsop County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $513 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clatsop County?
July highs average about 70 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 37. That works out to about 111 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clatsop County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Seaside, Warrenton, and Astoria. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clatsop County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clatsop County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clatsop 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.
Clatsop County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clatsop County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clatsop County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clatsop County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clatsop County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clatsop 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.