Best PlacesUnity, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Unity, 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.
Unity ranks 41,363rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Unity
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.
Unity's strengths and weaknesses
Where Unity ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 95% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 154 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Short commute19.4 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 88% of towns
Where Unity ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$29,013 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Unity
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Unity home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $29,013, 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 Unity's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Unity
Unity 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 Unity.
Who works in Unity, and how
Work in Unity centers on transportation & warehousing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 45%
- Work from home 49%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Unity
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Unity.
What the weather is like in Unity, month by month
Unity sees roughly 154 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 45° | 29° |
| July | 91° | 70° | 47° |
| October | 65° | 46° | 30° |
Flying in and out of Unity
The nearest airport, Eastern Oregon Regional at Pendleton, is about 91 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Unity
Schools across Unity average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Brooklyn Primary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Humbolt Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Seneca Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Baker Intermediate SchoolC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Ontario High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Grant Union Junior/senior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Unity school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Unity 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 Unity against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Unity
Is Unity a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Unity ranks 41,363rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and the weather, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Unity expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $272,100. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $29,013 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Unity safe?
Unity is safer than 32% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $447 per resident a year.
Compare Unity with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Unity. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Unity 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.
Unity detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Unity: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Unity: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Unity: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Unity: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Unity 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.