Best PlacesOld Town-Chinatown, Portland, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Old Town-Chinatown, Portland, 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.
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland ranks 4,698th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Old Town-Chinatown, 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.
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Old Town-Chinatown, Portland ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
Where Old Town-Chinatown, Portland ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Household income$37,055 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland
A household needs to earn about $164,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Old Town-Chinatown, Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $37,055, 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 Town-Chinatown, Portland's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Town-Chinatown, Portland
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland 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 Old Town-Chinatown, Portland.
Who works in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland, and how
Work in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 30%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 61%
Life in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of neighborhoods and more late-night spots per resident than 94% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Old Town-Chinatown, Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland, month by month
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland sees roughly 118 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 Old Town-Chinatown, Portland
Portland International sits about 6 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
Old Town-Chinatown, 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 Old Town-Chinatown, Portland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland
Is Old Town-Chinatown, Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Old Town-Chinatown, Portland ranks 4,698th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, biking, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Old Town-Chinatown, Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $609,100. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $37,055 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Old Town-Chinatown, Portland safe?
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland is safer than 4% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,693 per resident a year.
Compare Old Town-Chinatown, Portland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Old Town-Chinatown, Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Old Town-Chinatown, 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.
Old Town-Chinatown, Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Old Town-Chinatown, Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Old Town-Chinatown, Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Old Town-Chinatown, Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Old Town-Chinatown, 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.