Best PlacesThurston, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thurston, 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.
Thurston ranks 31,526th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Thurston
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.
Thurston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thurston ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of towns
Where Thurston ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,397 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thurston
A household needs to earn about $114,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thurston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,736, 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 Thurston'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 Thurston
Thurston 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 Thurston.
Who works in Thurston, and how
Work in Thurston centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Thurston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thurston.
What the weather is like in Thurston, month by month
Thurston sees roughly 76 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 Thurston
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thurston
Schools across Thurston average a C, better than 47% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Creslane Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Harrison Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Bohemia Elementary SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creswell Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Lincoln Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Creswell High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Cottage Grove High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thurston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thurston 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 Thurston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thurston
Is Thurston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thurston ranks 31,526th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, tree cover, and civic engagement, and lowest on childcare costs and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thurston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $437,537. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $70,736 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Thurston safe?
Yes, Thurston is safer than 62% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $332 per resident a year.
Compare Thurston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thurston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thurston 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.
Thurston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thurston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thurston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thurston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thurston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thurston 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.