Best PlacesOtis, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Otis, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Otis ranks 32,041st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Otis
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.
Otis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Otis ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 79% of towns
- BikingBetter than 77% of towns
Where Otis ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Otis
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Otis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,722, 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 Otis' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 Otis
Otis runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Otis.
Who works in Otis, and how
Work in Otis centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Otis
The coast is about 11 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Otis, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Otis, month by month
Otis sees roughly 114 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 70 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 44° | 38° |
| April | 58° | 49° | 41° |
| July | 70° | 60° | 52° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Otis
The nearest airport, McNary Field, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Otis
Schools across Otis average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nestucca K8D+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Nestucca High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Otis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Otis 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 Otis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Otis
Is Otis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Otis ranks 32,041st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, transit, and clean air, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Otis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $337,891. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $61,722 median income, cost of living beats 17% of towns.
Is Otis safe?
Otis is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
Compare Otis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Otis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Otis 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.
Otis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Otis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Otis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Otis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Otis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Otis 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.