Best PlacesWasco County, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Wasco 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.
Wasco County ranks 1,875th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wasco 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.
Wasco County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wasco County ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of counties
- Short commute18.9 minutes each way, better than 85% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of counties
Where Wasco County ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Wasco County
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wasco County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,560, 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 Wasco County'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 Wasco County
Wasco 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 Wasco County.
Who works in Wasco County, and how
Work in Wasco County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Wasco County
Wasco County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 79% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wasco County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Wasco County growing, and who is moving in?
Wasco 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 Wasco County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Wasco County, month by month
Wasco County 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 Wasco County
Portland International sits about 68 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 9.1 million passengers in 2025, with 117 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wasco County
Schools across Wasco County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mosier Community SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Buff Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Dry Hollow Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jefferson County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- The Dalles Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- The Dalles High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- South Wasco County High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Madras High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wasco County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wasco 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 Wasco County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Wasco County suits
Families
Schools land around the 36th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Common questions about living in Wasco County
Is Wasco County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wasco County ranks 1,875th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state infrastructure, clean air, and short commutes, and lowest on disaster risk and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wasco County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $358,283. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $66,560 median income, cost of living beats 25% of counties.
Is Wasco County safe?
Yes, Wasco County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $416 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wasco County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 44 with lows near 30. That works out to about 131 pleasant days a year, more than 83% of counties.
Is Wasco County good for families?
Schools beat 36% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $849 a month.
Compare Wasco County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wasco County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wasco 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.
Wasco County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wasco County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wasco County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wasco County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wasco County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wasco 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.