Best PlacesHaines, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Haines, 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.
Haines ranks 12,843rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Haines
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.
Haines' strengths and weaknesses
Where Haines ranks high
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 159 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of towns
Where Haines ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Haines
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Haines home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,282, 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 Haines' effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Haines
Haines runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Haines.
Who works in Haines, and how
Work in Haines centers on education and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Haines
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Haines.
What the weather is like in Haines, month by month
Haines sees roughly 159 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 45° | 29° |
| July | 91° | 70° | 47° |
| October | 65° | 46° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Haines
The nearest airport, Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton, is about 68 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Haines
Schools across Haines average a B+, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Haines Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Brooklyn Primary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Union Elementary SchoolC− · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Baker Intermediate SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Union High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Haines school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Haines 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 Haines against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Haines
Is Haines a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Haines ranks 12,843rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Haines expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,097. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $92,282 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Haines safe?
Yes, Haines is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
Compare Haines with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Haines. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Haines 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.
Haines detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Haines: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Haines: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Haines: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Haines: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Haines 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.