Best PlacesWest Side, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Side, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West Side ranks 21,182nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Side
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.
West Side's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Side ranks high
- Short commute11.0 minutes each way, better than 99% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$102,232 median, better than 86% of towns
Where West Side ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Side
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Side home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,232, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 West Side's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 West Side
West Side 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 West Side.
Who works in West Side, and how
Work in West Side centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in West Side
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Side.
What the weather is like in West Side, month by month
West Side sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 29° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 70° | 46° |
| October | 66° | 45° | 27° |
Flying in and out of West Side
The nearest airport, Rogue Valley International/Medford, is about 121 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field, about 240 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Side
Schools across West Side average a C, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henley Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Union Elementary SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Fremont/hay Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Daly Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Henley Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeview Senior High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Side school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Side 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 West Side against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Side
Is West Side a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Side ranks 21,182nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, state infrastructure, and clean air, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Side expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $337,622. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $102,232 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is West Side safe?
West Side is safer than 10% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $683 per resident a year.
Compare West Side with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Side. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Side 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.
West Side detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Side: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Side: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Side: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Side: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Side 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.