Best PlacesLong Creek, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Long Creek, 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.
Long Creek ranks 43,381st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Long Creek
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.
Long Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Long Creek ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 88% of towns
Where Long Creek ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$38,282 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Long Creek
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Long Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $38,282, 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 Long Creek's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 Long Creek
Long Creek 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 Long Creek.
Who works in Long Creek, and how
Work in Long Creek centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in Long Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Long Creek.
What the weather is like in Long Creek, month by month
Long Creek sees roughly 70 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 Long Creek
The nearest airport, Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Long Creek
Schools across Long Creek average a B+, better than 74% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Humbolt Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Heppner Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Pilot Rock Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% 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 Long Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Long Creek 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 Long Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Long Creek
Is Long Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Long Creek ranks 43,381st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, a strong job market, and transit, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Long Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $380,944. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $38,282 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Long Creek safe?
Long Creek is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $536 per resident a year.
Compare Long Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Long Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Long Creek 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.
Long Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Long Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Long Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Long Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Long Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Long Creek 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.