Editor’s Note: This is not investment advice, and we are not financial advisers.
Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Oregon with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Oregon that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Oregon at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Estacada.
5.6% population growth · -1.2% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · -2.1% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.2% population growth · -0.3% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
1.9% population growth · -0.2% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.2% population growth · -0.8% home price growth
The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 4,935 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.5% population growth · 0.8% home price growth
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-0.1% population growth · 0.2% home price growth
Creswell is a city in the Willamette Valley of Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 5,031.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.5% population growth · 0.3% home price growth
Warrenton is a city in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. The city is named for D.K. Warren, an early settler. The population estimate 5,282 in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
-1.9% population growth · 2.0% home price growth
Located in
Yamhill County, Oregon
Sheridan is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. Platted in the 1860s when it received a post office, the city was incorporated in 1880. A major fire burned much of the city in 1913, and a flood covered much of the city in 1964. The population of the city as of the 2010 Census was 6,127, an increase from 3,570 at the 2000 census. However, the 2000 Census count failed to include those incarcerated at the federal prison in the city, while the newer count did include those inmates.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
0.3% population growth · -1.4% home price growth
Junction City is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Its population was 5,392 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Oregon’s statewide median.
Oregon statewide median: $499,004
On the map
Where Oregon’s best buys are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Oregon for 2026?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for over a decade. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Oregon. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Oregon with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2020-2024 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Oregon, with these caveats: home prices had to be within 20% of the state average, home prices increased in the last year, and the city had above 5,000 people.
So of the 372 cities and towns in Oregon, only 80 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 80 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Estacada is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Beaver State.
The full plate
Best Places To Buy A Home In Oregon
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Estacada | 5,152 | $540,538 | 5.6% | -1.2% |
| 2 | King City | 5,073 | $464,246 | -0.1% | -2.1% |
| 3 | Veneta | 5,200 | $435,477 | 0.2% | -0.3% |
| 4 | Philomath | 5,642 | $518,378 | 1.9% | -0.2% |
| 5 | Tillamook | 5,218 | $459,171 | -0.2% | -0.8% |
| 6 | Winston | 5,690 | $313,139 | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| 7 | Creswell | 5,621 | $468,604 | -0.1% | 0.2% |
| 8 | Warrenton | 6,327 | $498,702 | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| 9 | Sheridan | 6,339 | $402,546 | -1.9% | 2.0% |
| 10 | Junction City | 6,947 | $478,165 | 0.3% | -1.4% |
| 11 | Brookings | 6,703 | $477,228 | -0.4% | 0.8% |
| 12 | Talent | 6,254 | $430,818 | -0.3% | 1.8% |
| 13 | Seaside | 7,192 | $465,276 | -0.2% | -0.6% |
| 14 | Madras | 7,676 | $358,034 | 1.1% | 0.0% |
| 15 | Milton-Freewater | 7,036 | $250,756 | -0.8% | 9.4% |
| 16 | Umatilla | 7,508 | $291,018 | -0.3% | 0.8% |
| 17 | Scappoose | 8,179 | $489,282 | 1.0% | -0.2% |
| 18 | Hood River | 8,361 | $712,510 | 0.0% | 2.0% |
| 19 | Sutherlin | 8,599 | $345,332 | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| 20 | Stayton | 8,292 | $463,064 | 0.8% | 1.9% |
| 21 | Lincoln City | 9,968 | $491,268 | 0.8% | 0.8% |
| 22 | Florence | 9,482 | $435,248 | -0.0% | -0.3% |
| 23 | Molalla | 10,186 | $497,975 | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| 24 | Eagle Point | 9,839 | $470,636 | 0.6% | 0.4% |
| 25 | Fairview | 10,735 | $479,771 | 1.0% | 1.9% |
| 26 | North Bend | 10,171 | $355,605 | -0.6% | -1.1% |
| 27 | Sweet Home | 10,078 | $350,175 | 1.0% | -0.4% |
| 28 | Baker City | 10,210 | $264,325 | 0.3% | -1.7% |
| 29 | Astoria | 10,109 | $474,605 | -0.5% | -0.7% |
| 30 | Independence | 10,199 | $425,946 | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| 31 | Cottage Grove | 10,698 | $395,746 | 0.6% | -0.4% |
| 32 | Monmouth | 11,428 | $473,961 | 2.3% | 0.6% |
| 33 | Silverton | 10,456 | $546,989 | 0.1% | -0.4% |
| 34 | Prineville | 11,470 | $425,759 | 2.5% | -0.3% |
| 35 | Newport | 10,583 | $445,961 | 1.8% | -2.7% |
| 36 | Ontario | 11,842 | $305,608 | 1.0% | 0.7% |
| 37 | Sandy | 12,854 | $523,760 | 0.9% | 1.5% |
| 38 | Gladstone | 11,977 | $517,793 | -0.1% | 0.9% |
| 39 | Cornelius | 14,255 | $485,775 | 4.1% | 0.0% |
| 40 | La Grande | 13,058 | $298,760 | -0.0% | 2.3% |
| 41 | St. Helens | 14,258 | $425,040 | 0.7% | -0.3% |
| 42 | The Dalles | 15,917 | $389,438 | -0.4% | -0.2% |
| 43 | Coos Bay | 15,925 | $323,165 | 0.4% | -0.3% |
| 44 | Troutdale | 15,923 | $492,004 | -0.5% | 2.0% |
| 45 | Dallas | 17,531 | $474,062 | 1.8% | 0.1% |
| 46 | Pendleton | 16,950 | $295,556 | -0.7% | -0.4% |
| 47 | Lebanon | 19,344 | $391,198 | 1.9% | -0.0% |
| 48 | Hermiston | 19,546 | $339,211 | 0.7% | -1.6% |
| 49 | Canby | 18,134 | $590,607 | 0.2% | -0.2% |
| 50 | Central Point | 19,216 | $418,192 | 0.2% | 1.6% |
| 51 | Sherwood | 20,307 | $633,005 | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| 52 | Milwaukie | 21,392 | $519,433 | 0.6% | 2.7% |
| 53 | Ashland | 21,259 | $551,385 | -0.4% | 1.6% |
| 54 | Klamath Falls | 22,115 | $308,371 | 1.1% | 1.0% |
| 55 | Happy Valley | 26,738 | $681,241 | 4.6% | -0.6% |
| 56 | Roseburg | 23,778 | $361,701 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| 57 | Newberg | 26,066 | $530,485 | 1.7% | 0.4% |
| 58 | Wilsonville | 26,974 | $635,208 | 3.0% | 0.2% |
| 59 | Forest Grove | 26,529 | $525,623 | 0.5% | -0.3% |
| 60 | Woodburn | 27,875 | $425,248 | 3.8% | 0.4% |
| 61 | West Linn | 26,935 | $777,229 | -0.5% | 1.5% |
| 62 | Tualatin | 27,763 | $638,736 | 0.2% | 0.3% |
| 63 | Redmond | 36,092 | $514,637 | 2.6% | 0.5% |
| 64 | McMinnville | 34,596 | $484,842 | 0.3% | 0.1% |
| 65 | Oregon City | 37,755 | $603,704 | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| 66 | Grants Pass | 39,311 | $398,231 | 0.3% | -0.6% |
| 67 | Keizer | 39,082 | $450,015 | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| 68 | Lake Oswego | 40,381 | $882,925 | 0.0% | 1.0% |
| 69 | Tigard | 56,011 | $608,407 | 1.1% | 0.3% |
| 70 | Albany | 56,839 | $435,935 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
| 71 | Corvallis | 59,960 | $555,988 | -0.8% | 0.1% |
| 72 | Springfield | 61,499 | $414,618 | -0.2% | 0.8% |
| 73 | Medford | 86,315 | $406,689 | 0.6% | 1.3% |
| 74 | Bend | 103,390 | $732,650 | 1.9% | -0.1% |
| 75 | Beaverton | 97,812 | $530,795 | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| 76 | Hillsboro | 108,231 | $522,557 | 1.1% | -0.3% |
| 77 | Gresham | 112,378 | $471,181 | -0.4% | 1.5% |
| 78 | Eugene | 179,591 | $473,231 | 1.2% | 0.5% |
| 79 | Salem | 178,865 | $436,318 | 1.2% | 1.2% |
| 80 | Portland | 641,165 | $534,638 | -0.2% | 1.9% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 via Saturday Night Science. 80 Oregon cities cleared the filters.
Summary
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Oregon for 2026
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Oregon. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 372 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Oregon are Estacada, King City, Veneta, Philomath, Tillamook, Winston, Creswell, Warrenton, Sheridan, and Junction City.
So if we could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
