Best PlacesOregon, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oregon, 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 ranks 23,812th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oregon
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oregon ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Oregon ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oregon
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oregon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,030, 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's effective rate of 1.81%, 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 10 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
Oregon 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 Oregon.
Who works in Oregon, and how
Work in Oregon centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Oregon
Oregon has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oregon and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oregon, month by month
Oregon sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Oregon
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oregon
Schools across Oregon average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Morgan Elem SchB+ · 51% proficient
- Centennial Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Monroe Center Grade SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Byron Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Aplington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Meridian Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Byron High School 9-12C+ · 35% proficient
- Stillman Valley High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Dixon High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oregon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oregon 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oregon
Is Oregon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oregon ranks 23,812th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, and biking, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oregon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,437. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $77,030 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Oregon safe?
Oregon is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Oregon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oregon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oregon 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oregon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oregon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oregon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oregon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oregon 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.