Best PlacesMadison South, Portland, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Madison South, Portland, 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.
Madison South, Portland ranks 2,456th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Madison South, Portland
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.
Madison South, Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Madison South, Portland ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
Where Madison South, Portland ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,741 a month, better than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 28% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 31% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Madison South, Portland
A household needs to earn about $145,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison South, Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,657, 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 Madison South, Portland's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Madison South, Portland
Madison South, Portland's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Madison South, Portland.
Who works in Madison South, Portland, and how
Work in Madison South, Portland centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Madison South, Portland
Madison South, Portland has more parkland per resident than 84% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Madison South, Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Madison South, Portland, month by month
Madison South, Portland sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Madison South, Portland
Portland International sits about 4 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
Madison South, Portland 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 Madison South, Portland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Madison South, Portland
Is Madison South, Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison South, Portland ranks 2,456th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cell coverage, clean air, and state infrastructure, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Madison South, Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $543,223. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $98,657 median income, cost of living beats 67% of neighborhoods.
Is Madison South, Portland safe?
Madison South, Portland is safer than 28% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $784 per resident a year.
Compare Madison South, Portland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison South, Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison South, Portland 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.
Madison South, Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison South, Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison South, Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison South, Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison South, Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison South, Portland 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.