Best PlacesWillamina, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willamina, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Willamina ranks 34,693rd of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Willamina
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.
Willamina's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willamina ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
Where Willamina ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,136 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willamina
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willamina home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $61,158, 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 Willamina's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Willamina
Willamina runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Willamina.
Who works in Willamina, and how
Work in Willamina centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Willamina
Willamina has more restaurants and bars per resident than 81% of towns. The coast is about 36 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Willamina and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Willamina, month by month
Willamina sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 69° | 52° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Willamina
The nearest airport, McNary Field, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 57 miles away.
The best schools in and around Willamina
Schools across Willamina average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Yamhill Carlton Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Nestucca K8D+ · 24% proficient
- Willamina Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yamhill Carlton Intermediate SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Yamhill Carlton High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Nestucca High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willamina school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willamina 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 Willamina against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willamina
Is Willamina a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willamina ranks 34,693rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, walkability, and transit, and lowest on disaster risk 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 Willamina expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,194. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $61,158 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Willamina safe?
Willamina is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Willamina with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willamina. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willamina 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.
Willamina detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willamina: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willamina: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willamina: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willamina: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willamina 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.