Best PlacesPalestine, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palestine, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Palestine ranks 542nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Palestine
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.
Palestine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palestine ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$170,394 median, better than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
Where Palestine ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,442 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palestine
A household needs to earn about $207,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palestine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $170,394, 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 Palestine's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Palestine
Palestine runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Palestine.
Who works in Palestine, and how
Work in Palestine centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 44%
- Work from home 53%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Palestine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Palestine.
What the weather is like in Palestine, month by month
Palestine sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 68° | 53° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Palestine
The nearest airport, McNary Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palestine
Schools across Palestine average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Grove Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Albany Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Timber Ridge SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- West Albany High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palestine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palestine 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 Palestine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Palestine
Is Palestine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palestine ranks 542nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, and lowest on biking and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palestine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $785,261. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $170,394 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is Palestine safe?
Yes, Palestine is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $192 per resident a year.
Compare Palestine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palestine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palestine 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.
Palestine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palestine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palestine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palestine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palestine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palestine 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.