Best PlacesLane County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lane County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lane County ranks 1,118th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Its strengths are biking and state infrastructure. The cost shows up in childcare costs, noise, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Lane 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.
The best areas in Lane County
The parts of Lane County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Cottage Grove
Tree cover is thicker, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Eugene
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Junction City
More households have young kids, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Veneta
It is quieter.
Springfield
Schools score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Florence
More homes sit empty and disaster risk is higher.
Creswell, Oakridge & Pleasant Hill
Transit reaches fewer jobs and commutes are longer.
Lane County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 5%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lane County's strengths and weaknesses
Lane County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Biking is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. State infrastructure and transit follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Lane County to another than it does between Lane County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Lane County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of counties
Where Lane County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,397 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 9% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lane County
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,999, 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 Lane County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 Lane County
Lane 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 Lane County.
Who works in Lane County, and how
Work in Lane County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Lane County
Lane County has more parkland per resident than 66% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 82% of counties. The coast is about 70 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lane County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lane County growing, and who is moving in?
Lane County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lane County, month by month
Lane County sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Lane County
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lane County
Schools across Lane County average a C+, better than 55% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ridgeline MontessoriA+ · 75% proficient
- Village SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Coburg Community Charter SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Spencer Butte Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Cal Young Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Creswell High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Cottage Grove High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- South Eugene High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lane County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lane 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 Lane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lane County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lane County
Is Lane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lane County ranks 1,118th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, state infrastructure, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $445,282. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $76,999 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Lane County safe?
Lane County is safer than 39% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lane County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 35. That works out to about 89 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lane County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Cottage Grove, Eugene, and Junction City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lane County good for families?
Schools beat 55% of counties, crime safety beats 39%, and childcare runs $1,397 a month.
Is Lane County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 40% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lane 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.
Lane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lane 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.