Best PlacesPortland, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Portland, 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.
Portland ranks 46,171st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Portland
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.
Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Portland ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
Where Portland ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Household income$43,663 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Portland
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,663, 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 Portland's effective rate of 0.32%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Portland
Portland 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 Portland.
Who works in Portland, and how
Work in Portland centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Portland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Portland.
What the weather is like in Portland, month by month
Portland sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Portland
The nearest airport, Greenville Mid-Delta, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Portland
Schools across Portland average a D+, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Portland Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Lakeside Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamburg Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Lakeside Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamburg High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Lakeside High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Portland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Portland 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 Portland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Portland
Is Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Portland ranks 46,171st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, affordable childcare, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Portland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $84,887. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $43,663 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Portland safe?
Portland is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $706 per resident a year.
Compare Portland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Portland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Portland 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.
Portland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Portland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Portland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Portland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Portland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Portland 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.