Best PlacesRichardson, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richardson, 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.
Richardson ranks 40,493rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Richardson
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.
Richardson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richardson ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
Where Richardson ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,397 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Short commute37.5 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richardson
A household needs to earn about $124,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richardson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $58,214, 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 Richardson's effective rate of 0.47%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Richardson
Richardson runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Richardson.
Who works in Richardson, and how
Work in Richardson centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Richardson
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Richardson, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Richardson, month by month
Richardson sees roughly 85 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° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Richardson
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richardson
Schools across Richardson average a C+, better than 51% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elmira Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Siuslaw Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Fern Ridge Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Siuslaw Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Siuslaw High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Elmira High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richardson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richardson 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 Richardson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richardson
Is Richardson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richardson ranks 40,493rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on internet speeds and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Richardson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $497,100. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $58,214 median income, cost of living beats 10% of towns.
Is Richardson safe?
Richardson is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $483 per resident a year.
Compare Richardson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richardson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richardson 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.
Richardson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richardson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richardson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richardson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richardson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richardson 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.