Best PlacesPolk County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Polk County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Polk County ranks 287th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Polk 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.
The best areas in Polk County
The parts of Polk County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Salem
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Monmouth
More households have young kids, though fewer residents vote.
Independence
Tree cover is thinner and health care is harder to reach.
Dallas
Fewer homes sit empty, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Polk County run from about the 20th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Polk County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Polk County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
- TransitBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Polk County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,012 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 31% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Polk County
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Polk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $92,405, 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 Polk County's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 Polk County
Polk County'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 Polk County.
Who works in Polk County, and how
Work in Polk 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 76%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Polk County
The coast is about 56 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Polk County, which the map shows.
Is Polk County growing, and who is moving in?
Polk County has grown about 17% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Salem, OR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Polk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Polk County, month by month
Polk County sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 71° | 55° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Polk County
The nearest airport, McNary Field, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Polk County
Schools across Polk County average a B−, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Willamina Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Philomath Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Philomath High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Polk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Polk 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 Polk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Polk County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Polk County
Is Polk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Polk County ranks 287th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, low crime, and biking, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Polk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $459,748. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $92,405 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Polk County safe?
Yes, Polk County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Polk County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 35. That works out to about 104 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Polk County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Salem, Monmouth, and Independence. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Polk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Polk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Polk 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.
Polk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Polk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Polk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Polk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Polk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Polk 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.