Best PlacesRufus, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rufus, 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.
Rufus ranks 41,065th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rufus
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.
Rufus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Rufus ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute19.1 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 76% of towns
Where Rufus ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$51,048 median, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rufus
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rufus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $51,048; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Rufus' effective rate of 0.71%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rufus
Rufus 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 Rufus.
Who works in Rufus, and how
Work in Rufus centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Rufus
Rufus has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rufus and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rufus, month by month
Rufus sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 36° | 30° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 40° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 61° |
| October | 69° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Rufus
The nearest airport, Yakima Air Trml/McAllister Field, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rufus
Schools across Rufus average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Condon Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Condon High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rufus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rufus 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 Rufus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rufus
Is Rufus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rufus ranks 41,065th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on tree cover and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rufus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,444. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $51,048 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Rufus safe?
Rufus is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $569 per resident a year.
Compare Rufus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rufus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rufus 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.
Rufus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rufus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rufus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rufus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rufus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rufus 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.