Best PlacesOlene, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Olene, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Olene ranks 4,863rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Olene
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.
Olene's strengths and weaknesses
Where Olene ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute18.6 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 147 pleasant days a year, better than 91% of towns
Where Olene ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Olene
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Olene home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $109,852; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Olene's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 Olene
Olene runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Olene.
Who works in Olene, and how
Work in Olene centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Olene
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Olene.
What the weather is like in Olene, month by month
Olene sees roughly 147 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 62° | 45° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 47° |
| October | 67° | 47° | 29° |
Flying in and out of Olene
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 64 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 240 miles away.
The best schools in and around Olene
Schools across Olene average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henley Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Ferguson Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Bonanza Elementary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Henley Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Olene school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Olene 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 Olene against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Olene
Is Olene a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Olene ranks 4,863rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Olene expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $441,874. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $109,852 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Olene safe?
Yes, Olene is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Olene with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Olene. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Olene 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.
Olene detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Olene: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Olene: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Olene: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Olene: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Olene 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.