Best PlacesOrchards Area, Orchards, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Orchards Area, Orchards, 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.
Orchards Area, Orchards ranks 2,295th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Orchards Area, Orchards
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.
Orchards Area, Orchards' strengths and weaknesses
Where Orchards Area, Orchards ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
Where Orchards Area, Orchards ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Orchards Area, Orchards
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Orchards Area, Orchards home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,518, 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 Orchards Area, Orchards' effective rate of 0.80%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Orchards Area, Orchards
Orchards Area, Orchards runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Orchards Area, Orchards.
Who works in Orchards Area, Orchards, and how
Work in Orchards Area, Orchards centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Orchards Area, Orchards
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Orchards Area, Orchards.
What the weather is like in Orchards Area, Orchards, month by month
Orchards Area, Orchards sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 70° | 57° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Orchards Area, Orchards
Portland International sits about 7 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
Orchards Area, Orchards 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 Orchards Area, Orchards against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Orchards Area, Orchards
Is Orchards Area, Orchards a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Orchards Area, Orchards ranks 2,295th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on clean air, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on state infrastructure and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Orchards Area, Orchards expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $473,774. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $93,518 median income, cost of living beats 59% of neighborhoods.
Is Orchards Area, Orchards safe?
Yes, Orchards Area, Orchards is safer than 87% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
Compare Orchards Area, Orchards with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Orchards Area, Orchards. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Orchards Area, Orchards 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.
Orchards Area, Orchards detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Orchards Area, Orchards: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Orchards Area, Orchards: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Orchards Area, Orchards: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Orchards Area, Orchards: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Orchards Area, Orchards 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.