Best PlacesUmatilla County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Umatilla County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Umatilla County ranks 1,254th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Umatilla County
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 Umatilla County
The parts of Umatilla County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Pendleton
Advertised internet is faster, health care is easier to reach, and more adults hold degrees.
Hermiston & Umatilla
Fewer homes sit empty and local pay stretches further.
Stanfield
Prices have run up less, though incomes run lower.
Milton-Freewater
It is quieter, though health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Umatilla County run from about the 14th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Umatilla County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Umatilla County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of counties
- BikingBetter than 86% of counties
Where Umatilla County ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Umatilla County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Umatilla County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,941; 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 Umatilla County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Umatilla County
Umatilla County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Umatilla County.
Who works in Umatilla County, and how
Work in Umatilla County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Umatilla County
Umatilla County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Umatilla County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Umatilla County growing, and who is moving in?
Umatilla County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Umatilla County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Umatilla County, month by month
Umatilla County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 69° | 53° | 38° |
| July | 96° | 78° | 58° |
| October | 69° | 53° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Umatilla County
The nearest airport, Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around Umatilla County
Schools across Umatilla County average a C, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Heppner Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Mckay Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Sherwood Heights Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- La Grande Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Sunridge Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Weston Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcloughlin High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Umatilla High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Pendleton High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Umatilla County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Umatilla County 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 Umatilla County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Umatilla County suits
Families
Schools land around the 50th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Umatilla County
Is Umatilla County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Umatilla County ranks 1,254th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, fast internet, and the weather, and lowest on thin health care access and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Umatilla County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,806. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $70,941 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Umatilla County safe?
Yes, Umatilla County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Umatilla County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 26. That works out to about 137 pleasant days a year, more than 86% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Umatilla County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pendleton, Hermiston & Umatilla, and Stanfield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Umatilla County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Umatilla County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Umatilla County 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.
Umatilla County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Umatilla County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Umatilla County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Umatilla County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Umatilla County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Umatilla County 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.