Best PlacesColumbia City, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Columbia City, 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.
Columbia City ranks 12,613th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Columbia City
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.
Columbia City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbia City ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
Where Columbia City ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,162 a month, better than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Columbia City
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbia City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,082, 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 Columbia City'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, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Columbia City
Columbia City runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Columbia City.
Who works in Columbia City, and how
Work in Columbia City centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Columbia City
Columbia City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Columbia City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Columbia City, month by month
Columbia City sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 33° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 69° | 54° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Columbia City
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 Columbia City
Schools across Columbia City average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Columbia City SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Lewis & Clark Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- St Helens Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- St Helens High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbia City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbia City 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 Columbia City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Columbia City
Is Columbia City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbia City ranks 12,613th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, 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 Columbia City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $447,185. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $91,082 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Columbia City safe?
Yes, Columbia City is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
Compare Columbia City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbia City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbia City 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.
Columbia City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbia City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbia City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbia City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbia City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbia City 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.