Best PlacesCornelius, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cornelius, 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.
Cornelius ranks 8,073rd 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 Cornelius
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.
Cornelius' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cornelius ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
Where Cornelius ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,642 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cornelius
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cornelius home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $98,879; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Cornelius' effective rate of 0.64%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cornelius
Cornelius's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cornelius.
Who works in Cornelius, and how
Work in Cornelius centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Cornelius
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cornelius.
What the weather is like in Cornelius, month by month
Cornelius sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 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 | 64° | 51° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 69° | 52° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Cornelius
Portland International sits about 22 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 Cornelius
Schools across Cornelius average a B−, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Plains Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Paul L Patterson Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Farmington View Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Evergreen Jr High SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Tom Mccall Upper ElementaryB− · 42% proficient
- South Meadows Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Forest Grove High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Hillsboro High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Glencoe High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cornelius school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cornelius 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 Cornelius against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cornelius
Is Cornelius a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cornelius ranks 8,073rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cornelius expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $425,819. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $98,879 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Cornelius safe?
Cornelius is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $481 per resident a year.
Compare Cornelius with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cornelius. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cornelius 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.
Cornelius detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cornelius: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cornelius: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cornelius: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cornelius: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cornelius 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.