Best PlacesCrater Lake, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Crater Lake, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Crater Lake ranks 41,799th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Crater Lake
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.
Crater Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crater Lake ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 71% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 69% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 64% of towns
Where Crater Lake ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Crater Lake
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crater Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,533, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Crater Lake's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Crater Lake
Crater Lake 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 Crater Lake.
Who works in Crater Lake, and how
Work in Crater Lake centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Crater Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Crater Lake.
What the weather is like in Crater Lake, month by month
Crater Lake sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 36° |
| April | 68° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 57° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Crater Lake
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 58 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 179 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crater Lake
Schools across Crater Lake average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henley Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Gilchrist Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Glide Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henley Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Glide Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Eagle Point High SchoolA+ · 95% proficient
- Glide High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Chiloquin High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crater Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crater Lake 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 Crater Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Crater Lake
Is Crater Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crater Lake ranks 41,799th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on civic engagement and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crater Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,836. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $71,533 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is Crater Lake safe?
Crater Lake is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $457 per resident a year.
Compare Crater Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crater Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crater Lake 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.
Crater Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crater Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crater Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crater Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crater Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crater Lake 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.