Best PlacesKirk, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kirk, 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.
Kirk ranks 45,871st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kirk
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.
Kirk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kirk ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
- Short commute22.6 minutes each way, better than 77% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
Where Kirk ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$32,790 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kirk
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kirk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $32,790, 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 Kirk's effective rate of 0.53%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kirk
Kirk 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 Kirk.
Who works in Kirk, and how
Work in Kirk centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Kirk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kirk.
What the weather is like in Kirk, month by month
Kirk sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 62° | 45° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 47° |
| October | 67° | 47° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Kirk
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 204 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kirk
Schools across Kirk average a D, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chiloquin Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Chiloquin High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kirk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kirk 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 Kirk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kirk
Is Kirk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kirk ranks 45,871st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kirk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,020. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $32,790 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Kirk safe?
Kirk is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $671 per resident a year.
Compare Kirk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kirk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kirk 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.
Kirk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kirk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kirk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kirk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kirk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kirk 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.