Best PlacesDexter, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dexter, 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.
Dexter ranks 31,094th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dexter
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.
Dexter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dexter ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 79% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 77% of towns
Where Dexter ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,397 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dexter
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dexter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $86,873, 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 Dexter'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dexter
Dexter'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 Dexter.
Who works in Dexter, and how
Work in Dexter centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Dexter
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dexter.
What the weather is like in Dexter, month by month
Dexter sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Dexter
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dexter
Schools across Dexter average a C+, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pleasant Hill Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Lundy Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Pleasant Hill High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Lowell Junior/senior High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dexter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dexter 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 Dexter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dexter
Is Dexter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dexter ranks 31,094th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, transit, and clean air, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dexter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $401,751. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $86,873 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Dexter safe?
Dexter is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $465 per resident a year.
Compare Dexter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dexter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dexter 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.
Dexter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dexter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dexter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dexter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dexter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dexter 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.