Best PlacesHappy Valley, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Happy Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Happy Valley ranks 731st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Happy Valley
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.
The best areas in Happy Valley
The parts of Happy Valley, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Sunnyside
Rock Creek
West Mt. Scott
Southgate
Happy Valley shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 5%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Happy Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Happy Valley ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of cities
- BikingBetter than 82% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 74% of cities
Where Happy Valley ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,525 a month, better than only 12% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 23% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 31% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 31% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 39% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Happy Valley
A household needs to earn about $188,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Happy Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $113,529, 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 Happy Valley's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 Happy Valley
Happy Valley's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Happy Valley.
Who works in Happy Valley, and how
Work in Happy Valley centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Happy Valley
Happy Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 78% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Happy Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Happy Valley, month by month
Happy Valley sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 42° | 37° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 71° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Happy Valley
Portland International sits about 10 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Happy Valley
Schools across Happy Valley average a C−, better than 23% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Scouters Mountain ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Spring Mountain Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Happy Valley Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Happy Valley Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Rock Creek Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Rowe Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Centennial High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- New Urban High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Happy Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Happy Valley 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 Happy Valley against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Happy Valley suits
Families
Schools land around the 23rd percentile and crime safety beats 67%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Happy Valley
Is Happy Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Happy Valley ranks 731st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Happy Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $699,538. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $113,529 median income, cost of living beats 66% of cities.
Is Happy Valley safe?
Yes, Happy Valley is safer than 67% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $419 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Happy Valley?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 48 with lows near 37. That works out to about 107 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Happy Valley?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Sunnyside, Rock Creek, and West Mt. Scott. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Happy Valley with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Happy Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Happy Valley 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.
Happy Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Happy Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Happy Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Happy Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Happy Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Happy Valley 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.