Best PlacesGrant County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grant County, 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.
Grant County ranks 2,265th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Grant 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.
Grant County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grant County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 90% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 78% of counties
Where Grant County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grant County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grant County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,272, 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 Grant County's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Grant County
Grant 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 Grant County.
Who works in Grant County, and how
Work in Grant County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Grant County
Grant County has more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Grant County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grant County growing, and who is moving in?
Grant County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bend, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grant County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grant County, month by month
Grant County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 92° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 66° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Grant County
The nearest airport, Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Grant County
Schools across Grant County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Haines Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Humbolt Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Heppner Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Heppner Junior/senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Grant Union Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Pilot Rock High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grant County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grant 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 Grant County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Grant County
Is Grant County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grant County ranks 2,265th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low property taxes, and quiet, and lowest on a weak job market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Grant County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,542. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $62,272 median income, cost of living beats 19% of counties.
Is Grant County safe?
Grant County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $438 per resident a year.
Compare Grant County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grant County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grant 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.
Grant County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grant County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grant County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grant County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grant County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grant 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.