Best PlacesFossil, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fossil, 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.
Fossil ranks 32,451st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fossil
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.
Fossil's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fossil ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 169 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
Where Fossil ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$55,718 median, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fossil
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fossil home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $55,718; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Fossil's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Fossil
Fossil 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 Fossil.
Who works in Fossil, and how
Work in Fossil centers on public administration 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 72%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Fossil
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fossil.
What the weather is like in Fossil, month by month
Fossil sees roughly 169 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 95° | 77° | 56° |
| October | 69° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Fossil
The nearest airport, Roberts Field, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fossil
Schools across Fossil average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Condon Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Condon High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fossil school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fossil 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 Fossil against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fossil
Is Fossil a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fossil ranks 32,451st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on summer heat and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fossil expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,122. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $55,718 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Fossil safe?
Fossil is safer than 6% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $798 per resident a year.
Compare Fossil with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fossil. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fossil 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.
Fossil detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fossil: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fossil: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fossil: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fossil: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fossil 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.