Best PlacesWallowa County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wallowa County, 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.
Wallowa County ranks 1,280th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wallowa 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.
Wallowa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wallowa County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute15.4 minutes each way, better than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
Where Wallowa County ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wallowa County
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wallowa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,320, 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 Wallowa County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Wallowa County
Wallowa County 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 Wallowa County.
Who works in Wallowa County, and how
Work in Wallowa County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Wallowa County
Wallowa County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Wallowa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wallowa County growing, and who is moving in?
Wallowa County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Portland, OR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Wallowa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wallowa County, month by month
Wallowa County sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 33° |
| July | 91° | 72° | 51° |
| October | 64° | 49° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Wallowa County
The nearest airport, Walla Walla Regional, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 140 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wallowa County
Schools across Wallowa County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Enterprise Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Wallowa Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Riggins Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Enterprise High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Prairie Jr/sr High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Salmon River Jr/sr High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wallowa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wallowa 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 Wallowa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Wallowa County
Is Wallowa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wallowa County ranks 1,280th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, short commutes, and fast internet, and lowest on cell coverage 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 Wallowa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $422,462. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $67,320 median income, cost of living beats 20% of counties.
Is Wallowa County safe?
Yes, Wallowa County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $398 per resident a year.
Compare Wallowa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wallowa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wallowa 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.
Wallowa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wallowa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wallowa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wallowa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wallowa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wallowa 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.