Best PlacesDorena, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dorena, 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.
Dorena ranks 44,562nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dorena
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.
Dorena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorena ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 67% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 65% of towns
Where Dorena ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,397 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Short commute35.6 minutes each way, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dorena
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,197, 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 Dorena's effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Dorena
Dorena runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dorena.
Who works in Dorena, and how
Work in Dorena centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Dorena
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dorena.
What the weather is like in Dorena, month by month
Dorena sees roughly 80 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 Dorena
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dorena
Schools across Dorena average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pleasant Hill Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Dorena SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Cottage Grove High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Pleasant Hill High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorena 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 Dorena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dorena
Is Dorena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorena ranks 44,562nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and fast internet, and lowest on cell coverage and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $382,371. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $65,197 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Dorena safe?
Dorena is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $544 per resident a year.
Compare Dorena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorena 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.
Dorena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorena 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.