Best PlacesOregon County, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oregon County, 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.
Oregon County ranks 2,857th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oregon County
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.
Oregon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oregon County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$340 a month, better than 99% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 83% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of counties
Where Oregon County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 8% of counties
- Household income$50,814 median, better than only 10% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Oregon County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oregon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,814, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 County's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oregon County
Oregon County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oregon County.
Who works in Oregon County, and how
Work in Oregon County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oregon County
Oregon County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Oregon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Oregon County growing, and who is moving in?
Oregon County has lost about 20% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Howell County, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Oregon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Oregon County, month by month
Oregon County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 27° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Oregon County
The nearest airport, Waynesville-St Robert Regional Forney Field, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 137 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oregon County
Schools across Oregon County average a C, better than 37% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Thayer Elem.B+ · 55% proficient
- Winona Elem.B− · 41% proficient
- Alton ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Thayer Sr. HighB− · 42% proficient
- Winona HighC · 30% proficient
- Alton HighD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oregon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oregon County 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 County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Oregon County
Is Oregon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oregon County ranks 2,857th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on health outcomes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oregon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,644. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $50,814 median income, cost of living beats 11% of counties.
Is Oregon County safe?
Oregon County is safer than 30% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $520 per resident a year.
Compare Oregon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oregon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oregon County 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 County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oregon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oregon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oregon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oregon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oregon County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.