Best PlacesOak Park, Salem, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oak Park, Salem, 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.
Oak Park, Salem ranks 5,217th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oak Park, Salem
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.
Oak Park, Salem's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oak Park, Salem ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Oak Park, Salem ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Oak Park, Salem
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oak Park, Salem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $51,491, 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 Oak Park, Salem's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oak Park, Salem
Oak Park, Salem runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oak Park, Salem.
Who works in Oak Park, Salem, and how
Work in Oak Park, Salem centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Oak Park, Salem
Oak Park, Salem has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Oak Park, Salem and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oak Park, Salem, month by month
Oak Park, Salem sees roughly 108 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° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 71° | 55° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Oak Park, Salem
The nearest airport, McNary Field, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 47 miles away.
Oak Park, Salem 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 Oak Park, Salem against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Oak Park, Salem
Is Oak Park, Salem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oak Park, Salem ranks 5,217th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cell coverage, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on thin health care access and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oak Park, Salem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,116. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $51,491 median income, cost of living beats 12% of neighborhoods.
Is Oak Park, Salem safe?
Oak Park, Salem is safer than 30% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $917 per resident a year.
Compare Oak Park, Salem with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oak Park, Salem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oak Park, Salem 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.
Oak Park, Salem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oak Park, Salem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oak Park, Salem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oak Park, Salem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oak Park, Salem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oak Park, Salem 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.