Best PlacesWinchester Bay, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Winchester Bay, 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.
Winchester Bay ranks 38,438th 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 Winchester Bay
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.
Winchester Bay's strengths and weaknesses
Where Winchester Bay ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- TransitBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
Where Winchester Bay ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$51,887 median, better than only 15% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Winchester Bay
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Winchester Bay home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $51,887, 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 Winchester Bay's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Winchester Bay
Winchester Bay 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 Winchester Bay.
Who works in Winchester Bay, and how
Work in Winchester Bay centers on transportation & warehousing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Winchester Bay
The coast is about 5 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Winchester Bay, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Winchester Bay, month by month
Winchester Bay sees roughly 123 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 67 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs June through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 47° | 40° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 43° |
| July | 67° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 64° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Winchester Bay
The nearest airport, Southwest Oregon Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 153 miles away.
The best schools in and around Winchester Bay
Schools across Winchester Bay average a C, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oakland Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- North Bay Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Siuslaw Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- North Bend Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Siuslaw Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- North Bend Senior High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- Siuslaw High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Oakland High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Winchester Bay school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Winchester Bay 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 Winchester Bay against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Winchester Bay
Is Winchester Bay a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Winchester Bay ranks 38,438th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, biking, and fast internet, and lowest on disaster risk and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Winchester Bay expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,946. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $51,887 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is Winchester Bay safe?
Winchester Bay is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $742 per resident a year.
Compare Winchester Bay with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Winchester Bay. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Winchester Bay 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.
Winchester Bay detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Winchester Bay: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Winchester Bay: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Winchester Bay: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Winchester Bay: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Winchester Bay 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.