Best PlacesOld Colton, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Colton, 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.
Old Colton ranks 21,027th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Old Colton
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.
Old Colton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Colton ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
Where Old Colton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,525 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Short commute36.8 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Old Colton
A household needs to earn about $149,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Colton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $77,641, 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 Old Colton's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Old Colton
Old Colton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Old Colton.
Who works in Old Colton, and how
Work in Old Colton centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Old Colton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Old Colton.
What the weather is like in Old Colton, month by month
Old Colton sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 70° | 55° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Old Colton
Portland International sits about 31 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Old Colton
Schools across Old Colton average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Colton Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Colton Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Colton High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Old Colton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Old Colton 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 Old Colton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Old Colton
Is Old Colton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Colton ranks 21,027th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, state infrastructure, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Old Colton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $597,954. The overall cost of living runs about 14% above the national average. Set against a $77,641 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Old Colton safe?
Yes, Old Colton is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $243 per resident a year.
Compare Old Colton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Colton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Colton 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.
Old Colton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Colton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Colton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Colton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Colton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Colton 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.