The 10 Best Counties To Live In Oregon For 2023


The best counties in Oregon are Clackamas County and Washington County for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: October 26, 2023

Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Oregon a good place?

The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Oregon.

Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Beaver State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.

The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Oregon, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 36 counties in the state.

After the analytic dust settled, we identified the 10 best counties to live in Beaver State for 2023.

Clackamas County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Oregon. And you should avoid Malheur County if you can — at least according to the data.

Now you know exactly where to move in Oregon. Keep on reading for more about the top ten and a detailed methodology.

Or, check out the best places to live in Oregon and the cheapest places to live in Oregon.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The Best Counties To Live In Oregon For 2023

1. Clackamas County

Canby, OR

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Portland
Population: 418,577
Median Income: $88,517 (2nd best)
Median Home Price: $452,200 (best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.9% (10th best)
More on Clackamas County: Data

2. Washington County

Beaverton, OR

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: Portland
Population: 596,969
Median Income: $92,025 (best)
Median Home Price: $439,300 (3rd best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6% (7th best)
More on Washington County: Data

3. Deschutes County

Bend, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Cacophony | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Bend
Population: 194,964
Median Income: $74,082 (5th best)
Median Home Price: $435,600 (5th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (14th best)
More on Deschutes County: Data

4. Polk County

Dallas, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Tedder | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: Salem
Population: 86,347
Median Income: $70,238 (8th best)
Median Home Price: $319,000 (10th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.3% (12th best)
More on Polk County: Data

5. Yamhill County

Dayton, OR

Source: Public domain

Biggest Place: McMinnville
Population: 107,024
Median Income: $73,409 (7th best)
Median Home Price: $353,200 (7th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (4th best)
More on Yamhill County: Data

6. Multnomah County

Fairview, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Finetooth | CC BY-SA 3.0

Biggest Place: Portland
Population: 810,011
Median Income: $76,290 (4th best)
Median Home Price: $437,600 (4th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (15th best)
More on Multnomah County: Data

7. Columbia County

Columbia City, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Tedder | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: St. Helens
Population: 52,381
Median Income: $73,909 (6th best)
Median Home Price: $312,700 (11th best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.4% (13th best)
More on Columbia County: Data

8. Crook County

Prineville, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Cacophony | GFDL

Biggest Place: Prineville
Population: 24,300
Median Income: $64,820 (11th best)
Median Home Price: $296,500 (16th best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.9% (5th best)
More on Crook County: Data

9. Benton County

Albany, OR

Source: Wikipedia User M.O. Stevens | CC BY 3.0

Biggest Place: Corvallis
Population: 94,667
Median Income: $68,732 (9th best)
Median Home Price: $384,900 (6th best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (23rd best)
More on Benton County: Data

10. Hood River County

Hood River, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Sam Beebe | CC BY 2.0

Biggest Place: Hood River
Population: 23,915
Median Income: $77,815 (3rd best)
Median Home Price: $444,300 (2nd best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (3rd best)
More on Hood River County: Data

Best Places To Buy A House In Oregon

Methodology: How do you determine which Oregon county is the best?

To give you the best county in Oregon, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.

With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.

We paid particular attention to:

  • Violent Crime Rates
  • Property Crime Rates
  • Median Home Values
  • Median Income
  • Unemployment Rates
  • Adult Education Levels
  • Health Insurance Coverage
  • Poverty Rates

We then ranked each county in Oregon across each of the criteria from one to 36, with one being the best.

Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Oregon.”

The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Beaver State.

We updated this article for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best counties to live in Oregon.

Read on to see why Clackamas County is the best county, while Malheur County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Oregon.

Summary: The Best Counties In Oregon To Call Home For 2023

Living in Oregon can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?

But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.

You are welcome.

Here’s a look at the worst counties in Oregon according to the data:

  1. Malheur County
  2. Lake County
  3. Klamath County

For more Oregon reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Oregon

Rank County Population Median Income Median Home Price
1 Clackamas County 418,577 $88,517 $452,200
2 Washington County 596,969 $92,025 $439,300
3 Deschutes County 194,964 $74,082 $435,600
4 Polk County 86,347 $70,238 $319,000
5 Yamhill County 107,024 $73,409 $353,200
6 Multnomah County 810,011 $76,290 $437,600
7 Columbia County 52,381 $73,909 $312,700
8 Crook County 24,300 $64,820 $296,500
9 Benton County 94,667 $68,732 $384,900
10 Hood River County 23,915 $77,815 $444,300
11 Clatsop County 40,720 $61,846 $340,700
12 Wallowa County 7,330 $57,891 $285,000
13 Tillamook County 27,129 $55,730 $309,000
14 Jackson County 221,662 $61,020 $322,100
15 Gilliam County 1,954 $51,705 $122,600
16 Sherman County 1,784 $53,606 $157,800
17 Linn County 127,200 $63,313 $265,900
18 Lane County 380,532 $59,016 $303,800
19 Curry County 23,234 $57,553 $308,800
20 Wheeler County 1,477 $46,648 $188,600
21 Union County 26,255 $55,227 $206,200
22 Marion County 344,037 $64,880 $293,800
23 Douglas County 110,680 $52,479 $224,400
24 Umatilla County 79,509 $63,123 $203,800
25 Wasco County 26,603 $57,853 $253,700
26 Lincoln County 49,866 $54,961 $287,200
27 Harney County 7,454 $42,095 $142,800
28 Morrow County 11,964 $61,659 $169,800
29 Coos County 64,619 $52,548 $238,100
30 Josephine County 87,686 $51,733 $303,500
31 Baker County 16,539 $46,922 $190,100
32 Jefferson County 24,232 $59,748 $267,300
33 Grant County 7,225 $51,100 $160,100
34 Klamath County 68,899 $50,790 $200,000
35 Lake County 8,119 $50,685 $160,100
36 Malheur County 31,313 $47,906 $162,100
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Best Counties, Rankings