Best PlacesEugene, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Eugene, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Eugene ranks 18,275th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Eugene
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.
Eugene's strengths and weaknesses
Where Eugene ranks high
- Cheap childcare$374 a month, better than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Eugene ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 26% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 35% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Eugene
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Eugene home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,119, 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 Eugene's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Eugene
Eugene runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Eugene.
Who works in Eugene, and how
Work in Eugene centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Eugene
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Eugene.
What the weather is like in Eugene, month by month
Eugene sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Eugene
The nearest airport, Columbia Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around Eugene
Schools across Eugene average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eldon Upper Elem.B+ · 52% proficient
- Cole Co. R-i Elem.B · 47% proficient
- South Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Eldon HighB · 48% proficient
- Eugene HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Russellville HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Eugene school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Eugene 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 Eugene against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Eugene
Is Eugene a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Eugene ranks 18,275th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, civic engagement, and a strong job market, and lowest on internet speeds and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Eugene expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,361. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $82,119 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Eugene safe?
Yes, Eugene is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Eugene with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Eugene. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Eugene 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.
Eugene detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Eugene: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Eugene: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Eugene: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Eugene: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Eugene 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.