Best PlacesPortland, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Portland metro, 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.
Photo by The original uploader was Fcb981 at English Wikipedia . Eric Baetscher, CC BY-SA 2.5, via commons
Portland ranks 64th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $106,645, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, noise, and disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in the Portland metro
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 Portland
The towns and districts of the Portland metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Estacada & Eagle Creek
Schools score higher, tree cover is thicker, and crime runs lower.
Beaverton, Hillsboro & Tigard
Biking is better and prices have run up less.
Bethany, St. Helens & Ridgefield
More adults hold degrees and local pay stretches further.
Camas, Washougal & Fairview
Transit reaches fewer jobs and streets are more car-dependent.
Oregon City & Molalla
It is quieter and more households have young kids.
Mcminnville, Newberg & Wilsonville
Scores close to Oregon City & Molalla, except that advertised internet is faster here.
Vancouver
Downtown Portland
Heat risk is higher and incomes run lower.
Gresham
Portland shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Portland's strengths and weaknesses
Portland ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Biking is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Clean air and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Noise and disaster risk also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Portland ranks high
- BikingBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than 95% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of metro areas
Where Portland ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,573 a month, better than only 4% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 16% of metro areas
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 28% of metro areas
- Short commute25.0 minutes each way, better than only 28% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Portland
A household needs to earn about $152,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Portland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $106,645, 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 Portland's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Portland
Portland'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 Portland.
Who works in Portland, and how
Work in Portland centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Portland
Portland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 95% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Portland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Portland growing, and who is moving in?
Portland has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Salem, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Portland go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Portland, month by month
Portland sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 42° | 36° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Portland
Portland International sits about 5 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Portland
Schools across Portland average a B, better than 70% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Pond Cove ElementaryA+ · 98% proficient
- Yarmouth Elementary SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Falmouth Elementary SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frank H Harrison Middle SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Cape Elizabeth Middle SchoolA+ · 97% proficient
- Falmouth Middle SchoolA+ · 96% proficient
Top high schools
- Centennial High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Forest Grove High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Falmouth High SchoolA+ · 98% 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 386 metro areas.
Who Portland suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Portland
Is Portland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Portland ranks 64th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on biking, clean air, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. 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 $574,429. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $106,645 median income, cost of living beats 82% of metro areas.
Is Portland safe?
Portland is safer than 36% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Portland?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 36. That works out to about 108 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Portland?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Estacada & Eagle Creek, Beaverton, Hillsboro & Tigard, and Bethany, St. Helens & Ridgefield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Portland good for families?
Schools beat 70% of metro areas, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,573 a month.
Is Portland good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of metro areas. About 22% of workers already work from home.
Compare Portland with other metro areas
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.
- 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.