The 10 Best Places To Retire In Oregon For 2023


The best places to retire in Oregon are Cottage Grove and North Bend for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

To see a list of the best places to retire in Oregon, take a look here.

Yes, if Tillamook’s cheese, Beaverton’s Nike shoes, and the University of Oregon’s Mighty Ducks are just a few of your favorite things, than you should consider spending your retirement years in The Beaver State.

And lucky for you, HomeSnacks has done the homework for you: we’ve created a list of the best places to retire in Oregon for 2023 and you can them below.

But first, if Coos Bay’s emerald coast, Portland’s Voodoo Doughnuts, or Mt. Hood’s majestic views don’t seal the deal, then the fact that the state’s best places to retire are super affordable, super fun, and super safe should do the trick. Probably why many of Oregon’s best places to retire are also some of the state’s safest.

Did we mention that these Oregon gems are also super close to an international airport? If you choose one of Oregon’s best places to retire, you’ll get to save money on that Winnebago and fly your family to you.

Want to know more? We suggest you grab an Oregon City Pioneer Pale Ale, throw on your favorite Ducks jersey, and read on to see how we ranked the best places to retire in Oregon.

Why did Cottage Grove take the top spot? And where are Portland and Salem?

Oregon’s strong economy, gold star safety, and average cost of living make its best places to retire very desirable. So, one can imagine how difficult it was for us to narrow down the best of the best.

But we did.

So, what’s the best place to retire in Oregon for 2023? According to the latest FBI and Census data, the best place to retire in Oregon is Cottage Grove.

To see a list of the other great places to spend your golden years in this northwest state, take a look below; and if you don’t find your favorite there, head to the bottom.

For more Oregon state reading:


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


The 10 Best Places To Retire In Oregon For 2023

Cottage Grove, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Visitor7 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,569
Median Rent: $924
Distance to Closest Airport: 98 miles
More on Cottage Grove: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

North Bend, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Brian Burger (“WireLizard”) | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 10,224
Median Rent: $889
Distance to Closest Airport: 99 miles
More on North Bend: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Canby, OR

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 18,078
Median Rent: $1,230
Distance to Closest Airport: 22 miles
More on Canby: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Newport, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Bernard Gagnon | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 10,305
Median Rent: $1,014
Distance to Closest Airport: 28 miles
More on Newport: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Milwaukie, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Finetooth | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 21,108
Median Rent: $1,346
Distance to Closest Airport: 10 miles
More on Milwaukie: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Prineville, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Cacophony | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 10,611
Median Rent: $965
Distance to Closest Airport: 123 miles
More on Prineville: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Astoria, OR

Source: Wikipedia User aselfcallednowhere | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,166
Median Rent: $941
Distance to Closest Airport: 71 miles
More on Astoria: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Grants Pass, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Nicolas from Paris, France | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 38,902
Median Rent: $986
Distance to Closest Airport: 23 miles
More on Grants Pass: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Silverton, OR

Source: Wikipedia User User:Cacophony | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 10,402
Median Rent: $1,202
Distance to Closest Airport: 41 miles
More on Silverton: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Lake Oswego, OR

Source: Wikipedia User Esprqii | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 40,390
Median Rent: $1,811
Distance to Closest Airport: 13 miles
More on Lake Oswego: Real Estate | Data | Crime Report | Cost Of Living

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Beaver State for 2023

To create our ranking of the best places in Oregon to retire, we used Saturday Night Science.

We analyzed Census data to find all places in the Beaver State — 372 cities and towns.

We then narrowed it down to places with at least 10,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 47 places from across the state.

For these 47, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:

  • Low cost of living as measured by rent
  • Low crime
  • Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
  • Nice weather
  • Distance to the closest international airport
  • Other retirees (High median age)

We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 47, with the lowest number being the best.

Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Cottage Grove, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second career.

The report has been updated for 2023. This reflects our tenth time ranking the best places to retire in Oregon.

Summary: Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In Oregon Yet…

So there you have it, the best place to retire in Oregon goes to Cottage Grove.

If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:

  1. Redmond
  2. Eugene
  3. Corvallis

For more Oregon reading, check out:

Best Places To Retire In Oregon

Rank City Population Median Rent
1 Cottage Grove 10,569 $924
2 North Bend 10,224 $889
3 Canby 18,078 $1,230
4 Newport 10,305 $1,014
5 Milwaukie 21,108 $1,346
6 Prineville 10,611 $965
7 Astoria 10,166 $941
8 Grants Pass 38,902 $986
9 Silverton 10,402 $1,202
10 Lake Oswego 40,390 $1,811
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.