Best PlacesOregon City, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oregon City, 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.
Oregon City ranks 851st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oregon City
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.
The best areas in Oregon City
The parts of Oregon City, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Hazel Grove-Westling Farm
Gaffney Lane & Hillendale
Tower Vista, Rivercrest & South End
Park Place
Caufield
Barclay Hills
McLoughlin
Scores across Oregon City run from about the 32nd to the 91st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Oregon City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oregon City ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 91% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of cities
- QuietBetter than 84% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of cities
Where Oregon City ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,525 a month, better than only 12% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 15% of cities
- School gradeC, better than only 28% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 29% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oregon City
A household needs to earn about $154,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oregon City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $107,489, 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 Oregon City's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 Oregon City
Oregon City's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oregon City.
Who works in Oregon City, and how
Work in Oregon City centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Oregon City
Oregon City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oregon City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oregon City, month by month
Oregon City sees roughly 109 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 Oregon City
Portland International sits about 17 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 Oregon City
Schools across Oregon City average a C, better than 28% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Springwater Environmental Sciences SchoolB · 47% proficient
- John Mcloughlin Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Cecile Trost Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Baker Prairie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Gardiner Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Rock Creek Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Canby High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Oregon City Senior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Molalla High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oregon City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oregon City 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 Oregon City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oregon City suits
Families
Schools land around the 28th percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Common questions about living in Oregon City
Is Oregon City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oregon City ranks 851st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and quiet, and lowest on childcare costs and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oregon City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $586,574. The overall cost of living runs about 10% above the national average. Set against a $107,489 median income, cost of living beats 53% of cities.
Is Oregon City safe?
Yes, Oregon City is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oregon City?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 35. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Oregon City?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hazel Grove-Westling Farm, Gaffney Lane & Hillendale, and Tower Vista, Rivercrest & South End. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Oregon City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oregon City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oregon City 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.
Oregon City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oregon City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oregon City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oregon City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oregon City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oregon City 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.