Best PlacesCurry County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Curry County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Curry County ranks 1,687th 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 Curry 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.
Curry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Curry County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of counties
Where Curry County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 21% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Curry County
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Curry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,578, 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 Curry County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Curry County
Curry 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 Curry County.
Who works in Curry County, and how
Work in Curry County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Curry County
Curry County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties. The coast is about 4 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Curry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Curry County growing, and who is moving in?
Curry County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sacramento, CA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Curry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Curry County, month by month
Curry County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs June through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 48° | 41° |
| April | 61° | 51° | 43° |
| July | 70° | 59° | 52° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Curry County
The nearest airport, Jack McNamara Field, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 246 miles away.
The best schools in and around Curry County
Schools across Curry County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ocean Crest Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Evergreen Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Driftwood Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harbor Lights Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Lorna Byrne Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Pacific High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Gold Beach High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Illinois Valley High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Curry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Curry 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 Curry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Curry County suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 64%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 17% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 87% of counties, health care access beats 72%, and it is quieter than 65%.
Common questions about living in Curry County
Is Curry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Curry County ranks 1,687th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Curry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $388,928. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $67,578 median income, cost of living beats 21% of counties.
Is Curry County safe?
Yes, Curry County is safer than 64% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $396 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Curry County?
July highs average about 70 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 41. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of counties.
Is Curry County good for families?
Schools beat 52% of counties, crime safety beats 64%, and childcare runs $849 a month.
Compare Curry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Curry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Curry 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.
Curry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Curry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Curry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Curry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Curry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Curry 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.