Best PlacesCrook County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Crook County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Crook County ranks 554th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Crook 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.
Crook County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Crook County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 162 pleasant days a year, better than 95% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Crook County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Crook County
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Crook County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,841, 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 Crook County's effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Crook County
Crook County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Crook County.
Who works in Crook County, and how
Work in Crook County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Crook County
Crook County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Crook County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Crook County growing, and who is moving in?
Crook County has grown about 30% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Bend, OR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Crook County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Crook County, month by month
Crook County sees roughly 162 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 23° |
| April | 64° | 47° | 29° |
| July | 92° | 72° | 48° |
| October | 68° | 49° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Crook County
The nearest airport, Roberts Field, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Crook County
Schools across Crook County average a B, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Buckingham Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Powell Butte Community Charter SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Crooked River Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Crook County Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- High Desert Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Obsidian Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Crook County High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Bend Senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Insight School Of Oregon Painted HillsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Crook County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Crook 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 Crook County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Crook County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 71% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 95% of counties, health care access beats 62%, and it is quieter than 65%.
Common questions about living in Crook County
Is Crook County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Crook County ranks 554th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on an overheated housing market and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Crook County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $486,239. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $87,841 median income, cost of living beats 71% of counties.
Is Crook County safe?
Yes, Crook County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $316 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Crook County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 23. That works out to about 162 pleasant days a year, more than 95% of counties.
Is Crook County good for families?
Schools beat 84% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $849 a month.
Compare Crook County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Crook County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Crook 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.
Crook County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Crook County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Crook County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Crook County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Crook County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Crook 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.